Sailor Moon: Requiem of Silence
by Raziel12
Summary: Hotaru begins to remember the origins of Saturn as Setsuna is forced to deal with the consequences of past mistakes. The Moon Kingdom casts a long shadow, and its past is neither gone nor forgotten.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

It was quiet. Quiet and still. Save for the sounds of her own breathing, all Pluto could hear was the sibilant whisper of the dust stirred by her own footsteps. Everywhere she looked there was nothing, just flat black rock as far as her eyes could see, in whatever direction she cared to look.

"My lady…" she reached up to adjust the communicator at her ear. "My lady, is there anything down there?"

"Nothing," she replied. "Have you been able to spot anything from up there?"

"No." The crackle of static filled her ears. "Something… is jamming our… scanners."

Pluto frowned. Rather than bring a battle fleet, she had chosen instead to bring an assortment of reconnaissance craft. In the unlikely event that she actually found her quarry, then a battle fleet would have been at best completely useless, at worst a wanton provocation.

"I see." Pluto pursed her lips and studied the featureless terrain for a few more moments. "Have you been able to get a general topography of the planet?"

More static. "Yes… it was difficult considering the clouds… but we've got some rough charts… we can send them to you now…"

"Good. Send them down."

She waited until she heard the familiar beep of an incoming data transmission over her communicator. The air in front of her shimmered and took on the form of a three dimensional map of the planet's surface. Rough as the map was, the sheer flatness of the terrain was surprising. It was almost as though someone had purposely levelled the entire surface of the planet, which was perhaps not far from the truth. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted something on the map. There was an indentation in the planet's surface, a deep valley of sorts several hundred kilometres north of her present location.

"I think I've spotted something on the map," she said to the ships in orbit around the planet. "I'm going to head north and check it out."

"My lady… be careful…"

"I always am." With that said, Pluto vanished in a swirl of crimson light.

She reappeared moments later at the edge of a vast canyon. Looking down she felt a shudder run down her spine. A yawning chasm of utter blackness greeted her; so dark it seemed to drink up what little light broke through the thick cloud cover. Worse still was the noiseless hum that seemed to fill the air. It tingled at the edges of her awareness. Power. That's what it was. Well hidden, yes, but it was there all the same, raw undiluted power. And it came from the canyon, from somewhere in that endless sea of shadow.

"I think you should see this," Pluto whispered, her communicator now switched to relay what she could see. "What do you make of it?"

A few seconds of delay, seconds that stretched to minutes.

"Are you there?" Pluto tapped her communicator. "Are you there?"

Static.

"Damn." She considered the canyon again. Should she wait until she was back in contact with her fleet, or should she press on? She tried her communicator again. Still nothing. Something moved in the corner of her eye and she spun, blood red power gathered around her hands. Only there was nothing there, nothing but dust and an unsettling quiet.

Pluto sighed and took a few deep breaths. She needed to calm down and think things through. There was no telling when she might get communications back and if she got into trouble she could always teleport back up to the surface. Her mind made up, she took a last, lingering look at the barren wasteland around her and leapt off the edge of the canyon and into the darkness below.

She fell down, down, down through the shadows. Tendrils of her power reached out, located the walls of the canyon and controlled her descent. Yet she still couldn't shake off the vague feeling of unease she felt. The walls felt slippery, as though her power couldn't quite find purchase. The sensation was… disconcerting.

The canyon was deep and falling through the endless darkness she soon lost track of time. Eventually she felt the bottom fast approaching and slowed her descent. She landed lightly on what felt like smooth rock. Everything was still. And quiet. With a flick of her wrist she summoned a small orb of light. She needed to get a move on.

The light revealed that she was on a narrow path between the two walls of the canyon. But which way should she go? She took a step forward and stopped. The sense of unease she'd felt so far exploded into panic. It clawed at the ragged edges of her control and tore the air from her lungs. The power she'd sensed at the top of the canyon washed over her. It felt like… like touching the coils of a kraken slumbering beneath the sea… it… was like touching something old and terrible that slept yet teetered on the edge of awakening. Pluto took a step back. The panic faded. A grim smile crossed her face. She knew which way to go now. Steeling herself as best she could, she strode forward.

How long she walked she wasn't sure. Eventually the path began to widen until at last she came to a huge hole in the rock. She ran her light along the edges of the hole. Above it, hewn into the rock was a single word: silence. The claustrophobic sense of panic returned full force and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. But the pain was good, it focused her, took her attention from the panic. Silence. Just one word, but it told her all she needed to know. This was what she had come to Saturn for, to find the resting place of the last Senshi of Destruction. She entered the cave.

The inside of the cave was devoid of any light save her own, devoid it seemed of any sound as well. Even the faint rustle of the wind in the canyon had faded away. Turning her light towards the floor her eyes widened in surprise. Instead of black rock, the floor was wrought of black marble. More disturbingly, large gashes were hacked into the marble, signs of a fight perhaps? If so, it would have been some fight. One of the gashes stretched for more than three hundred feet and was more than a foot deep.

Again she was confronted with a dilemma about which way to go. Only this time the sense of panic was no guide. It was chokingly dense, no matter which way she turned and it was all she could do not to turn and run. She did a quick circuit of the room. It was large, maybe a hundred feet long and about a hundred and fifty feet wide. Several passages branched off. It would be easy to get lost.

She did another quick circuit of the room and stopped. There it was. She could only just feel it, hidden as it was beneath the raw power that threatened to overwhelm her. It was a whisper, a ghostly echo that thrummed on the edges of her awareness. It called to her. And she followed.

On and on she went through the cave, her footsteps and breathing the only sound, her light the only source of illumination. Her breathing began to hasten, till she was gasping and still she staggered on, driven as much by a barely controlled panic as she was by the fleeting sense of knowing… of knowing that what she sought lay just ahead.

And then, as if coming out a dream she stopped. Somewhere along the line, her light had gone out. Darkness, total and absolute, surrounded her. She took a step back. Breathe. Just breathe. Do not panic. Do no panic. Do not…

She couldn't hear the sound of her own breathing anymore. In fact, she couldn't hear anything.

Silence.

Panic.

Running.

Stumbling.

But in the darkness it was hard to tell if she was moving, hard to tell if she wasn't just standing there, too horrified to move, only imagining that she running, only imagining that she was going somewhere, when in reality she was just standing there… standing there screaming and screaming and…

And then there was light. And sound. Or at least Pluto though there was. Because it wasn't really light… or sound, not the way she normally knew them. There was just a sense of seeing, a sense of hearing. Words came to mind, jumbled and only barely coherent: light in the darkness, movement in stillness… music in silence…

She stared. A thin shaft of light cut through the darkness in front of her. It fell onto an altar and shone on the weapon that lay there. And what a weapon it was. She'd heard of it, of course, had heard the whispered legends, but she'd never seen it, never imagined the sense of elegant lethality it conveyed.

It was the Silence Glaive. Six feet of night black metal it seemed to bleed shadow, the sharpness of its edge almost palpable even from a distance. It seemed to hum, a noiseless roar that seemed to cut right through her soul. It terrified her and yet still she stumbled towards it, drawn to it.

Only when she was a few feet away did she realise that it wasn't resting on an altar. No, what the Silence Glaive was fastened to was the top of what looked to be a coffin. Only it wasn't a coffin. She glanced down at the floor. Runes of power were hewn into the marble but not to keep people out. No these runes were to keep something in. On the 'coffin' itself were more runes, symbols of power used to bind and chain things. Horror well up inside her. This wasn't a coffin. This was a prison.

She took a step back, then another and another as panic once again threatened to overwhelm her. What had she done? What kind of evil had she stumbled across? She needed to leave, to escape, to get out. She tried to gather her power, tried to focus her mind. All she got was silence.

Just then the runes on the floor lit up. Deep violet light filled the air and the silent roar of the Glaive grew louder still. One by one the seals on the prison and on the floor around it began to break. The Glaive screamed in noiseless joy, a ripping, tearing, soul-breaking shriek that drove Pluto to her knees with her hands over her ears.

And then she was screaming too, her eyes clamped shut, the Glaive's demonic cackle seemingly everywhere at once. Then, just like that it stopped. Silence reigned, absolute and total silence. And she looked up to find herself staring down the impossibly sharp length of Silence Glaive. A pair of violet eyes met her gaze. Everything went quiet. Everything went still. Time slowed to a crawl.

"Saturn…"

Author's Notes and Disclaimer 

First of all, I don't own Sailor Moon and I'm not making any money off it. Just somebody writing in their spare time…

Well… it's been a while, a long while. For those of you who've read my other stories and have been waiting for more, I apologise. Life has a funny way of resetting your priorities. That said this is something I've been meaning to get to for a while. When I originally wrote Sailor Moon: Requiem and then Sailor Moon: Requiem Redux, I had a story in mind, a sense of where I was going. Unfortunately I don't think either of those stories ever really got across what I wanted them to. This story represents an attempt to finally finish the story I had in mind when I wrote some of my earlier stories. Undoubtedly my style of writing has changed since I first wrote Sailor Moon: Reflections and Conversations. That's only natural. Hopefully though, the people reading this still find my writing enjoyable.

As always, please review. I'm very interested in what you have to say.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two Setsuna padded quietly down the hall towards the bathroom. She paused just before the bathroom door and listened. Around her, the house was quiet. Not silent, but quiet. Listening carefully she head the house breathe, a collection of soft, barely audible noises. Fragments of sound: the fridge humming in the kitchen, the faint strains of classical music coming from the room Haruka and Michiru shared, and the erratic rattle of Hotaru's loose bedroom window in the wind. 

She flicked on the bathroom light and winced. The sudden brightness was almost painful. In the mirror, blood shot eyes stared back at her from a haggard face. She looked and felt exhausted. Sighing she shut the door and quickly turned on the shower. Beside the mirror, spelled out in glowing red digits on a clock radio was the time: 3:00 AM.

The water was already pleasantly warm when she stepped into the shower but she turned the heat up anyway. Steam filled the room as she stood with her eyes closed beneath the stream of water, water that was now almost painfully hot. It had been a long, long time since she'd dreamed of _before_, a very long time.

It was only when the hot water finally ran out that she stepped out of the shower. The clock now read 3:30 AM. She'd been in the shower for half an hour. Absurdly the thought occurred to her that Michiru would not be pleased. The aqua-haired woman had been doing her best to curb their water usage. Of course, it wasn't about the money. They had plenty of that. It was about the environment.

After changing into a fresh pair of pyjamas, she made her way down the stairs into the kitchen. Standing there in the dark, the fridge humming quietly beside her, she poured herself a glass of ice-cold water and gulped it down. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she was back in the cave, back in the still silence. What she wanted, what she needed, was coffee.

Several minutes later she drew a chair up to the kitchen counter and sat with a cup of coffee in one hand, and a freshly made pot beside her. The rich, heady scent of the coffee filled the air and she took a long sip. She sighed with pleasure and savoured the faintly bitter, yet decidedly sweet taste of the coffee. Slowly, she let her head come to a rest on her arms. Weariness washed over her and her eyes drifted shut.

She slept.

The next thing Setsuna was aware of was someone poking her. "Setsuna… Setsuna…" Muffled laughter. "Wake up, Setsuna."

With a groan she dragged herself up into a sitting position. Pins and needles danced up her spine as her neck and back made their displeasure at the sudden movement known. Unable to stop herself, she winced and rubbed furiously at her sore neck. That only provoked fresh mirth from the person beside her.

"You nearly gave me the shock of my life," Hotaru said, violet eyes twinkling. "I came down here to make some hot chocolate and there you were at the kitchen counter with some," she wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Coffee."

Setsuna looked around. The time on the microwave was 7:00 AM. Had she really just spent the night slumped over the kitchen counter? That would have to be a first. "What are you doing up so early, Hotaru?"

"Early?" The younger woman now looked more concerned than worried and she leant over to place one palm on Setsuna's forehead. "It's Friday, I have school. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, just… tired." Setsuna brushed Hotaru's hand off her forehead.

"I can see that." Hotaru pulled a chair up beside Setsuna's and sat. "Bad dream?" Her lips curved into a wry smile at Setsuna's look of surprise. "I've had my fair share of those, so I know how troublesome they can be." What she didn't say was just what those dreams were about. There were some things her erstwhile parents would be better off not knowing. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

How strange it was to be having this conversation with Hotaru, Setsuna thought. It seemed like only yesterday Hotaru had been a little girl, all shy smiles and nervous laughter. Now the girl was a young woman of seventeen, a young woman who had become very, very good at reading others.

"I had a dream," Setsuna said at last. "About _before_."

"Before?" It took a moment for Hotaru to understand. However when she did, the change was immediate. Her posture straightened. Her eyes narrowed. Her mouth tightened into a grim line. She couldn't possibly know just how much like Saturn she looked at that moment. "What about before?"

Fleetingly, Setsuna considered lying but just as quickly she discarded the idea. Hotaru's eyes seemed to see right through her, to cut past all the flesh and blood, and bone to the soul beneath. They were a predator's eyes, filled with carefully controlled lethality. Being the absolute centre of Hotaru's attention was at once almost frightening, yet oddly thrilling as well.

"I dreamt of Saturn," Setsuna said at last. "Or rather, the last incarnation of Saturn."

"I see." Hotaru struggled to keep her expression neutral, but she couldn't quite keep the quaver from her voice. "So what was she… I… what was she like?" In her lap, she clenched her hands into fists. "Or would I be better off not knowing?"

"Hotaru…" Setsuna began, not sure of what to say, not sure, really, of what she could say. Somehow she didn't think that Hotaru would be happy to know that Saturn had terrified her the first time they'd met.

"You two are up early." Setsuna breathed a sigh of relief as Michiru walked into the kitchen. The aqua-haired woman slanted them both curious looks and did a double take at Setsuna's dishevelled appearance. "You're looking well this morning, Setsuna."

"I'm fine." Setsuna's replied curtly. Her tone signalled that the matter was closed to further discussion. It was a tone she'd never been able to take with Hotaru, but she had no problems turning it on the other two members of her dysfunctional family.

"I… see." Michiru's eyes wandered from the pot of congealed coffee to the look of carefully schooled neutrality on Hotaru's face. What was going on? "You should probably clean that out." She pointed to the pot of coffee. "Otherwise it's going to be impossible to clean up later."

As she washed the pot of coffee, Setsuna kept an ear tuned to Michiru and Hotaru's conversation. For the most part it was small talk, chatter about Hotaru's schoolwork, friends and plans for the weekend. She was both impressed and saddened by just how well Hotaru disguised her unease behind a mask of good cheer.

Hotaru looked at the microwave clock. It was almost time to leave. "Where's Haruka-papa? I need someone to drive me to school."

"I'll drive you." Setsuna's knew for a fact that Haruka would not be up to driving. She also knew, or rather she could guess from the steadily growing grin on Michiru's face that Haruka would not be the most pleasant person to be around in the near future.

"Is something wrong with Haruka-papa?" Hotaru was genuinely puzzled. Haruka never missed a chance to drive.

"Haruka is feeling a little under the weather today," Michiru said. "She thought it would be a good idea to have a few drinks after the race yesterday."

"Oh." Hotaru couldn't help but smile at Michiru's tone. Haruka had obviously had more than a few drinks.

"Of course, she still has work today, and it would be a shame for her to be late." Michiru brandished a jug full of icy cold water.

Setsuna turned to Hotaru. "Let's go."

Hotaru nodded quickly and followed Setsuna to the garage. She didn't want to be around when Michiru put the water to use. They had just gotten to the car when she heard a piercing shriek followed by raucous laughter. Moments later, Michiru burst into the garage.

"Let me in!" she shouted as Setsuna started the car. "Let me in!"

Setsuna simply locked the car doors and put the car into gear. Then drove off. As they turned out of the driveway she glanced at her rear view mirror. Haruka had crash tackled Michiru and was busy emptying several glasses of cold water over the other woman's head.

"I don't think Haruka-papa will get to work on time today."

Setsuna looked over at Hotaru. The lavender haired woman was smiling, a real smile, and seeing that Setsuna couldn't help but smile as well. "I think you're right, Hotaru."

The trip to school took the better part of half an hour and for most of it Hotaru was content to study Setsuna out of the corner of her eye. Back in the kitchen, for just a few moments, she'd seen a crack in the emerald-haired woman's usually impeccably calm demeanour. What could have shaken Setsuna up that badly?

"How are your classes going?"

The sudden break in the silence caught Hotaru off guard. "Pardon?"

"How are your classes going?" As always, Setsuna's eyes remained on the road. "Didn't you have some assignments due in soon?"

Hotaru shrugged inelegantly. "I'm not Ami, but I think I doing all right." She frowned. "I have a sculpture due in for art class at the end of term but it's taking me a little longer to finish than I expected."

"Oh?" Hotaru's talent for sculpture had taken them all a little off guard, although perhaps it shouldn't have been surprising considering who'd raised her. "What's the problem?"

Happy to be talking about something more mundane, Hotaru replied, "It's silly, really. I had this dream and I woke up with a really clear image of what I wanted to make, only I just can't seem to get it quite right." An idea came to her and she smiled. "You should come in and have a look at it. I've got a key to the studio and I'm sure Yamada-sensei won't mind."

"I'd like that."

Fifteen minutes later and Hotaru was leading Setsuna into the studio. The studio itself was larger and better equipped than Setsuna had expected and she made a mental note to pay closer attention to the school's facilities in the future. Paintings took up the front half of the studio. Some hung off the walls, while others were still on easels.

"What do you think of the paintings?" Hotaru asked as she led Setsuna down the back to where the kept the unfinished sculptures.

"They're good." And she meant it. While not of a professional standard, some of the artists were definitely very talented. "Your sensei must be very proud."

"She is," Hotaru replied. The sculptures were on a long table at the back of the room, each one covered with cloth. "Come on, my one is the one at the end."

Setsuna smiled as Hotaru dragged her over to her sculpture. The younger woman's enthusiasm was infectious. Halfway there she stopped, her eyes drawn to one of the few uncovered sculptures. "What's this?"

Hotaru beamed. "Oh… that. I made it last term. I'm sure you recognise it."

And Setsuna did. Carved in white marble was an amazingly accurate rendition of the Moon Palace. Unable to stop herself, she ran her hands over the sculpture. The level of detail was incredible. "Hotaru," she said softly as she wondered at the time, effort and skill such a sculpture must have taken. "This is exquisite."

A light blush coloured Hotaru's cheeks. "Thanks." She grabbed Setsuna's arm and tugged her over to the end of the table. "Now here's what I'm working on." She pulled the cover back with a flourish. "What do you think?"

For a moment Setsuna wasn't sure what to say. However the rest of her reaction said it all. Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth in shock.

"Setsuna…" Hotaru began uncertaintly. "Setsuna…"

But Setsuna didn't hear her. Instead she stood, riveted, by the sculpture before her. It was done out of black marble: a raven its wings unfurled with a glaive clutched in its claws. Its feathers seemed almost real, tousled by some unseen breeze. And the glaive, she'd know that weapon anywhere. Wrought out of black marble it seemed almost sinister. It had to be blunt and yet, in the light it seemed to shine with wicked sharpness.

"Is this what you saw in your dream?" Setsuna whispered.

"Yes…"

It was a symbol Setsuna knew all to well. It was the crest of arguably the most blood soaked and unfortunate of the royal houses of the Moon Kingdom. In time it had become synonymous with the most famous of that house's representatives and the power that she wielded. Following the single greatest disaster in the Moon Kingdom's history until the attack of the Negaverse, it had also been banned.

It was the crest of the Royal House of Saturn and throughout the Moon Kingdom it had become inexplicably tied to the Senshi of that unfortunate planet and what she stood for: the end of all things.

XXX

Author's notes:

Again, I don't make any money off this…

The plot thickens… or am I just losing the plot? Please review and tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

Hotaru's fingers moved slowly over the sculpture in front of her. She was aware of the conversations going on around her, the usual ebb and flow of her art class. But where before the noise had been comforting it was now just empty. Hollow.

Unbidden, her thoughts turned back to what Setsuna had said, or rather to what she hadn't, about the sculpture. The look on the older woman's face had been a mix of fear and surprise, a combination of emotions Hotaru had never seen on Setsuna's face before. Then had come the single whispered word: Saturn, before Setsuna had simply turned on her heel and left. Hotaru had not known what to do, had instead looked repeatedly from her sculpture to the open door of the studio.

"Hotaru, you okay?" Hotaru felt a tap on her shoulder and turned. One of her classmates, Harumi was in front of her with a lump of clay in her hands. Her sculpture it seemed had gotten the best of her.

"Just some personal stuff." While Hotaru got on very well with Harumi she could just imagine how the conversation would go if she told the other girl everything. It would be particularly humorous to see how Harumi reacted when she reached the part about how one of the people who'd helped raised her had fled after seeing something which was, apparently, related to a past life where she'd been a murderous psychopath capable of destroying planets. Wonderful.

"Ummm…. Hotaru, you're mumbling." Harumi's brown eyes twinkled with your amusement. "Something about psychopaths."

"Oh." Hotaru laughed nervously. "Just ignore that." A change of subject was in order. She pointed at the lump of clay in Harumi's hands. "Is that your sculpture?"

"Was my sculpture," Harumi corrected. "Was." She looked down at the clay and grinned wryly. "Let's just say I like it better this way. Before it was bad. Now it has," she paused theatrically, "Potential."

"Potential?" Hotaru couldn't help but laugh at that. "I see…"

"Quiet you." Harumi brandished the clay threateningly. "I'm still struggling to get started and here you are with that things of yours," she pointed at Hotaru's sculpture. "And you're treating it like it's got the plague or something. I mean it's a little creepy but it's really good too."

"Thanks." Hotaru took another look at her sculpture. Despite Setsuna's somewhat less than favourable reaction she still liked it. There was something about it that seemed at once familiar and comforting. It just felt right. And wasn't that what mattered? If Setsuna wanted to act all weird about it that was fine. She'd just ask her about it later. Right now, though, she'd just worrying about getting it done and getting it done well.

XXX

Not for the first time, Setsuna was sorely tempted to bang her head on the wall. She had made an absolute mess of things that morning. What had she been thinking, running off like a frightened child? The sculpture might have caught her off guard and true, her experiences with it had been less than pleasant in the past, but that was no excuse for how she'd treated Hotaru.

Still, she doubted her reaction would stop Hotaru asking about it. If anything it would have the reverse effect and that was one conversation she did not look forward to. But it worried her that Hotaru had begun to remember things. Depending on which memories the younger woman got back first she could potentially form a very, very bleak picture of her past. Setsuna needed to make sure that Hotaru had some support so that who she had been in the past didn't distract her from who she was now.

But how much to tell her? All of it eventually would probably be the best option, but then how to explain everything so that Hotaru could understand? Setsuna ran her hands through her hair and suppressed the urge to scream. She really, really needed to plan for the conversation.

Suddenly she jerked to her feet. There… at the very edges of her awareness, like a flash of light in the corner of her eye, something… something didn't feel quite right. Moments later the feeling came again, only stronger. A youma? She frowned. No. This feeling she had was too subtle, too quiet for that. Wordlessly she transformed in a flash of crimson light and teleported towards the site of the disturbance.

Pluto reappeared on top of a building overlooking a busy street. For a moment she could only see the people. They ran in all directions, scared and confused. Then she saw the source of it all.

A sphere of inky shadow some ten feet in diameter floated a few inches over the ground in the middle of the street. Before her eyes it began to quiver then bulge as its shape distorted and changed. The light around the sphere seemed to dim as it jerked itself into a vaguely humanoid shape. A head appeared, then a mouth, which widened to reveal midnight black teeth. Then with a final wet squelch two golden eyes appeared, set above the creature's mouth.

For a few second the creature simply stood there. Then with frightening speed it moved towards the nearest pedestrians with its huge claw-like hands extended. Yet even as it advanced its golden eyes remained locked on Pluto.

With a cry, Pluto fired off a blast of crimson energy and leapt down to meet the creature. As she shot through the air she took the time to send a call for help over her communicator. It never hurt to be careful.

XXX

"Excuse me, Tokai-sensei," Hotaru said. "But I'm not feeling well." She winced and tried to look as ill as possible. Of course, she was fine, but a call had come in from Setsuna. And a call during school hours could only mean one thing: an attack.

"All right, Hotaru." Tokai nodded. "Just head down to the nurse's office."

"Thank you."

But Hotaru didn't go the nurse's office. Instead she found a suitable hiding place, transformed then took off across the rooftops towards Pluto's signal.

XXX

Pluto regarded the twenty feet tall creature with grudging respect. It was tough. Its skin was like liquid shadow, a flowing, almost darkly metallic substance that hardened to form the creature's claws and teeth. Her previous attacks had blasted chunks of its flesh away, only for the inky shadow to simply flow over and close the wound. However the creature could bleed. Silver ichor stained the pavement where she'd wounded it.

The creature was on the move again. It darted swiftly across the road towards her and she flipped backwards and away, the Garnet Orb thrust towards it.

"Dead scream."

As always she delivered her attack with a whisper. The blood red energy rocketed towards the creature slammed into it with a howl that blew out several of the nearest windows. The high-pitched tinkle of shattered glass was drowned out by the creature's roar of fury.

Its response was both unexpected and brutally effective. Rather than charge, it simply jerked one arm towards Pluto. The limb elongated with impossible speed, became almost like a harpoon. She dropped to the ground and the arm speared into the mercifully deserted shop behind her. Then she was running, scarcely able to breathe as the creature swung its lengthened arm about like a scythe. A telephone pole crashed to the ground, then another. She was about to turn and fire off another attack when she felt a wave of pure heat shoot past her and into the creature. Mars.

"Pluto!" Mars landed beside her, hands still wreathed in fire as she took in the property damage. "What's going on?"

"Careful," Pluto cautioned as she steadied herself. "That creature is very dangerous."

And it was angry too. Its black flesh bubbled and boiled under Mars's flame but rather than fall back, the creature advanced, its golden eyes alight with malevolent fury. Then it wailed, a strange, discordant keening that cut through the air like a knife.

Still wailing, the creature charged. Pluto and Mars leapt apart, attacking as they retreated in opposite directions. The creature went after Mars's dodging another bolt of fire with surprisingly agility. Then it attacked, one claw shooting forward. Still airborne, Mars' tried to dodge but was only partly successful.

The raven-haired senshi was thrown backwards through the air as the sheer force of the blow ripped a gash down her back and hurled her through a nearby window. She felt the glass break, felt pain shoot through her body, then a dull thump as she skidded to a halt on the floor of the shop.

"Mars!" Pluto bit back a curse and attacked again. She needed to keep that creature away from Mars until the other senshi had a chance to recover. This time though, she aimed at the creature's legs. Her attack cut through black flesh and the creature staggered, hobbled, if only for a moment.

As Mars stumbled dazedly out of the shop, more attacks rained down on the creature. Moments later Venus and Mercury appeared at Mars's side.

"Mars, you okay?" Venus draped an arm around the other senshi to help her stand. "Mercury, you need to take a look at her."

Now with four senshi to contend with, the creature retreated. It leapt upwards onto the roof of the nearest building. It landed with a crunch that shook loose chunks of masonry before it broke into a run and leapt onto another building. Pluto moved to follow it but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Mars is hurt." Venus's voice was cool. "We can't leave her here."

"I know." Pluto gestured towards the fleeing creature. "But we cannot let it run loose in the city."

"I'm fine!" They turned at Mars's voice. The senshi of fire was on her feet, obviously in pain, but furious all the same. "Tell them, Mercury."

The aqua-haired senshi grimaced. "The cut is long, but it isn't overly deep and while she's bruised she hasn't broken anything, though I'll need more time to be sure." The scan visor shimmered in the air in front of her face.

"You hear that?" Mars said. "Now let's go after that thing. I want some payback."

The four senshi took to the rooftops and followed the creature. For something of its size it was surprisingly agile. Finally the chase came to a close as the creature leapt down from the roofs and stumbled into a park.

"We stop it here." Pluto's voice was grim. "Now be careful."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Mars's joke fell flat as Venus gave her a light bop on the head.

"Don't joke about things like that."

They caught up with the creature beside a large pond. Mars was the first to attack. Her flame raced across the pond, only inches from the surface and left a trail of steam in its way. Heat billowed outwards as the fire exploded against the creature's chest. At the same time, Mercury and Venus swung into action. A chain of golden light arced towards the creature's legs as jagged shards of ice shot slammed into its right arm. Silver ichor sprayed from the wound.

The creature howled with fury then dropped to the ground as the chain of light tightened around its legs. Even on fire and hobbled it managed to go on the offensive. For rather than try and retreat, it instead hurled itself towards the senshi. It landed in their midst as they scattered like a flock of birds.

It swiped at Venus first, forcing her to relinquish her hold on the chain. Then it was all claws and teeth as it attacked with unbelievable ferocity. As she ducked and dove and weaved for her life, Pluto saw Mercury take a glancing hit and go flying into the pond as another blow clipped Venus and threw her backwards. She was about to call for a retreat when she felt, rather than saw, the arrival of Jupiter and Moon then Neptune and Uranus.

XXX

Saturn landed lightly on her feet outside the park and broke into a run. She could feel the others nearby. Some of them were hurt. Worse, by the flashes of the light and the explosions that rocked the ground, she could tell that the fight was a difficult one.

When she arrived at the scene of the battle she could scarcely believe her eyes. It looked like a war zone. There were scorch marks and deep gouges cut into the earth. At the centre of it all was a big, black… thing covered with silver ichor that must have been its blood. Bits of ice were embedded in its back and a chain was wrapped around one arm.

But the Senshi weren't doing much better either. Mars looked like she was about ready to pass out and most of her uniform was either missing or drenched with red. Venus and Mercury looked battered too and the others all had signs of injury as well, though thankfully none of them looked quite as badly hurt as Mars.

As she ran towards Mars, Saturn heard the roar of Neptune's attack as a geyser of water rushed towards the creature, accompanied by a sphere of yellow energy that could only be Uranus's World Shaking.

"Mars!" she inspected the wound on the other senshi's back quickly. Though not deep, movement had torn the gash wide open.

"Saturn…" Mars gasped. "Nice to have you here."

"Hold still," Saturn commanded as she went to work. Purple light flowed down her arms and into her hands. Immediately the wound began to heal as the flesh knitted closed under Saturn's fingertips.

Before Saturn could finish though, Mars pulled away. "That's good enough for now. Go help the others."

"Mars…" Saturn trailed off. The creature had somehow sprouted an extra pair of arms on its back and was advancing with murderous intent on Pluto. "Pluto!" 

The creature attacked and Pluto went down in a storm of claws and teeth. A horrified screamed burst from Saturn's lips as she moved faster and more desperately than she ever had in her life.

For her part, Pluto could scarcely see through the haze of pain. Flashes of light told her that the others were still attacking, but the creature hardly seemed to care. It was mortally wounded, surely, but it seemed determined to take at least one of them with it. Another blow slipped through her faltering defence and she felt a rib break.

"Pluto!"

Pluto looked up and Saturn was somehow in front of her. The Silence Glaive glinted darkly in the light and Pluto felt a shiver run up her spine. And then she was being dragged away, pulled away from the creature by Jupiter as Saturn and the shadow-born monstrosity exchanged blows with frightening speed.

And for a moment Saturn was winning. The Silence Glaive was sharper than any sword ever forged and the creature's flesh parted like so much paper before it. But Saturn made one mistake: any normal opponent would have flinched, would have given her time to breathe and recover after she severed a limb. Not this one.

In the instant that Saturn took to drag in a haggard breath the creature struck. And it struck hard. The blow hit Saturn across the chest and threw the violet-haired senshi through several trees before she finally slammed into the brick wall of the park kiosk. Then she slid slowly down the wall and landed with a wet thump in a steadily growing pool of blood.

"No!"

XXXX

Saturn was dying. At least that's how it felt. She couldn't feel anything, couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything. It was so dark and quiet. And cold. But she needed to get up. The others needed her. Pluto needed her…

If only she'd been stronger…

"_Tell me, girl, do you want to be strong?"_

There was a voice in the darkness. It was… familiar… and the words… surely she'd heard them once before… images… sounds… smells…

Rain.

Lightning.

Blood.

"_Then take my hand."_

A hand appeared in the darkness. It was a warrior's hand, rough and calloused and scarred. It was familiar too.

"_But remember. There is no going back."_

Darkness claimed her.

XXX

Author's Notes

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor am I making any money off this.

With that out of the way, let's move on…

Firstly, I'm sorry for the delay. I had a draft of this written up earlier this week, but unfortunately other commitments meant I didn't have the time to write it up properly till this weekend. That said it is a little longer than usually, so hopefully that makes up for. It also has an extended fight scene. Yay (hopefully).

As always, I'm interested to here what you think. From here on in we'll be finding out more about Saturn's past as well as the past of the Moon Kingdom in general. If you have any questions about my interpretation of the Moon Kingdom (or about the Sailor Moon universe in general) just drop me a line and I'll get back to you.

Please tell me what you think. It's the only way I'll get better and it'll keep me from going off on any overly crazy tangents.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four 

Pluto watched in horror as the creature turned from Saturn's bloodied body. As the creature took a step towards the rest of the senshi, her eyes remained locked on Saturn's still form. From this distance she couldn't even tell if the younger woman was alive.

"Jupiter," Pluto said quietly. "I need a distraction."

The mahogany-haired senshi nodded. "Just say the word."

"We need to kill that damn thing." Uranus's voice was tight with anger and she moved to stand beside Jupiter. "If it's a distraction you want, Pluto, it's a distraction you'll get."

"Good." This was better. They could use anger. Anger compelled action. Quickly, she ran a practiced eye over the scene, trying to ignore the slowly spreading pool of blood around Saturn as she formulated a plan of action. "Jupiter, Uranus, I need you to draw the creature's attention. Lure it away from Saturn if you can. Venus, Mercury," she fixed the two senshi with a hard stare. "Get Saturn then get out of here. She needs medical attention and she needs it now."

"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Blood trickled from the wounds on Mars's back, but the dark-haired woman's refused to lean on anyone else for support.

"Keep yourselves out of harm's way and blast it with whatever you can when the opportunity presents itself."

"Sounds like a plan." A jaunty grin flickered across Venus's face. "Shall we?"

At Pluto's signal, the senshi swung into action. Bolts of lightning arced towards the creature from Jupiter's fingertips. They struck with a dull boom that shook the park as Uranus let loose a blast of wind, aimed not at the creature's chest or head, but at its feet. A thick plume of dust shot up and the creature dropped to its knees as silver ichor poured from its wounded feet.

"Venus, Mercury, now!" Pluto shouted.

Venus and Mercury broke into a ragged run towards Saturn, barely able to see through the cloud of dust. Unable to see more than a few feet ahead, it took them a moment to realise that something was wrong. The pool of blood was there, all right, but Saturn wasn't. Saturn was gone.

"Pluto!" Venus shouted. "She's not here!"

"What?" Pluto retreated as the creature scrambled towards her and the other senshi. Already its wounds were healing, the flood of ichor slowing to a trickle. "She has to be there."

"I'm telling you," Venus shouted, "She's not here."

That didn't make any sense, Pluto thought. Saturn had been down. From the look of her injuries there was no way she could have escaped on her own. Unless… a thought occurred to her that sent a shiver down her spine. There was one thing that might explain what had happened to Saturn. And then as if to confirm her worst fears, she saw Saturn.

The other senshi stood on the ruins of one of the shattered walls. In her hands the Silence Glaive glittered with malevolent intent. Then, before Pluto's stunned gaze, the metal began to darken. First the shaft of the weapon turned black before the gleaming silver blade followed suit.

"Run…" Pluto whispered, then more loudly, "Everyone, run!"

Still darker the glaive grew, till Saturn held not an object made of metal, but something else entirely. It was something torn from the furthest reaches of the night, six-feet of impossibly dark lethality. At last she raised her eyes. Twin pools of violet ice narrowed ominously. And then she vanished.

"Pluto, what do you mean run?" Uranus dodged backwards as the creature lashed out at her with one claw. "We still haven't found Saturn yet!"

"Just trust me," Pluto replied. "Do as I – "

Whatever else Pluto might have said was drowned out by the crunch the creature made as it toppled to the ground. For a moment no one was sure what had happened and then they saw. The creature's legs were gone, cut off at the knees. It rolled onto its back and roared a challenge at its new adversary.

Saturn stepped forward, silver ichor splattered all over the night-black edge of the Silence Glaive. One of the creature's clawed arms shot towards her. Without breaking her stride, she brought the glaive up and cut smoothly through the offending limb. Ichor poured from the wound and as the creature struggled to stand she struck twice more in quick succession. Just like that, she rendered the creature limbless.

Pluto felt her heart hammering in her chest as she watched the carnage unfold. Beside her, Moon dropped to her knees and was violently sick. She could hardly blame her. In front of them, Saturn stepped calmly on to the creature's chest and lowered the Silence Glaive till the tip was just close enough to draw blood. The creature went completely still.

With an expression utterly devoid of emotion, Saturn plunged the tip of the Silence Glaive into the creature's chest. Tendrils of violet light gathered around the dark shaft of the glaive and a low hum filled the air. A moment later there was a flash of light and silence, total and absolute, filled the park.

When the light faded the creature was gone. In fact, everything within thirty feet of Saturn was simply gone. There were no scorch marks or gouges in the ground. Everything was just gone. Gone as if it had never been. Saturn stood in the middle of it all, the only thing untouched in a thirty feet wide circle of absolute nothingness.

"Saturn," Pluto called out. "Saturn."

If the other senshi heard Pluto's call, she gave no sign of it. Instead she sank slowly to her knees. Darkness bled off the Silence Glaive as the weapon faded back from the unnatural black to its regular appearance. Abruptly, the weapon vanished and Saturn slumped onto the ground.

Not quite sure what to make of things, Pluto could only stop and stare. Then she gathered her wits and shouted for the others to help. "Get her," she said, pointing at Saturn. "We're getting out of here. Now."

XXX

"So, are you going to tell me what the hell that was back there?" Haruka paced like a caged tiger around the living room. "Because I don't know about you, but that… that… person out there today wasn't Hotaru." Her face was flushed with fury and she rounded on Setsuna with a growl. "Damn it, you know something, so spit it out!"

"I would," Setsuna said dryly. "If you'd calm down long enough to let me speak." Softening her tone, she added, "Please, just sit down."

"Fine," Haruka ground out. "But this better be good."

As she waited for Haruka to settle, Setsuna took a quick look around the room. The senshi had packed into the living room and their expressions were a study in contrasts. Some of them were worried. Usagi, in fact, seemed on the verge of tears. Ami, on the other hand, was easily the calmest of the group. Her hands were folded in her lap and she had her laptop beside her. Ready to take notes, probably. Although outwardly calm, Makoto was tense. No doubt she was ready to move into action if Haruka took another swing at Setsuna.

"Well?" Haruka demanded testily. "Are you going to start or do I have to beat it out of you?"

"Haruka," Michiru whispered, her voice tight with concern. "Stop. You're not helping."

Setsuna shot the other woman a grateful look. Hopefully now they could make a start to it. There was a lot to tell, and if her suspicions were correct, not a whole lot of time to tell it in.

"I suppose," Setsuna began. "That I should start at the beginning…"

Only one of the senshi wasn't downstairs with the others. Hotaru lay on her bed upstairs, her back bandaged, her injuries mostly healed. Beneath her closed eyelids, her eyes moved rapidly from side to side. She dreamed.

XXX

Smoke. Why could she smell smoke? Mama never burned the cooking…

It was hot, too hot.

She opened her eyes. Fire danced at the corners of her vision, spindly flames that crept along the mantelpiece and onto the windowsills. The house was on fire, she realised. What was it that papa always said to do if there was a fire? That's right, she needed to get out first, then look for help. Papa would be so proud of her for doing just like he asked.

Night had fallen and it was dark outside, but she didn't have any trouble seeing. All of the houses were on fire. Flames leapt from roof to roof and the scent of burnt wood carried on the air.

Where was everyone?

Slowly she remembered. Mama and papa had gone to the store to buy some milk. They'd taken Telyn with them. She was supposed to stay home and watch the house. After all she'd turned seven almost three months ago. She was a big girl. But a big girl wouldn't want to cry right now, a big girl would know what to do, a big girl…

A low growl rolled down the street and she froze. What was that? Something padded down the street towards her, something long and sleek and deadly. It was like a big cat, but no cat ever had eyes like this, pools of deep crimson. Blood dripped from its long fangs and in the twinkling firelight she saw the shimmer of scales, not fur.

Monster.

Fear seized her and she looked about frantically for a place to hide. If it saw her she was dead. She knew that she'd never, ever be able to out run it and those teeth and those claws…

Move, she thought desperately, but she couldn't seem to pull her eyes from the monster's sleek black form. Only when it's head swung towards her did she find the strength to move. She inched back towards the wall that lined the street and crept back towards her burning house. Hidden in the shadows of the torn up garden, she watched the monster pass by. Even after it had gone, she stayed there too terrified to move in case it came back.

At last she stood and carefully peered out onto the street. The monster was gone. What she needed to do now was find her family. The store wasn't far, just a few minutes down the road. Surely they'd be there. Surely this was all just some crazy misunderstanding, surely…

But it wasn't all right. The store was on fire, just like all the other buildings. There were bodies all around it, mangled, ripped up, dead. Some of them were people she knew. Verod, who lived down the street, lay propped up against one wall, his stomach torn open. Old Kurin, the fisherman, was slumped over one of the broken chairs. And over by the fountain were bits and pieces of her neighbour.

Unable to grasp the full horror of the situation she stumbled about till she tripped over something. An arm, she realised, she'd tripped over an arm. But what caught her eye was the ring on the arm's hand. It was her mother's ring. No, she thought with wild and desperate terror, no, no, no.

"Mama…" she whispered. "You've got to be okay, you and papa and… and Telyn…" She trailed off as her eyes picked out the shapes that lay in the street not far off. There was Telyn, his purple hair matted to his forehead, his eyes cold and lifeless. Papa was beside him and mama too. There were claw marks all over them and bite marks too. A pool of blood marred the pavement. Tattered bits of their clothing were scattered about like some bizarre picnic blanket.

What had happened? Who had done all of this? She dropped to her knees and sobbed. Her stomach convulsed and she vomited. Gagging, she stumbled towards the fountain and vomited again. In the bitter light of the burning buildings, she saw the dark tinge to the water. Blood. And vomited again.

Stars danced in front of her eyes as she continued to dry heave in front of the fountain. Finally it stopped and she sank to the ground with a hoarse sob. Everyone was dead. She knew that now. Monsters were on the streets and it was only a matter of time before they got her to, only a matter of time before they got her and killed her just like everyone else. Maybe she should just give up, just walk out there and let them end it. What good would living be anyway, when everyone else was dead?

From the corner of her eye she saw a monstrous shape peel itself from the shadows and she stumbled to her feet. She could either stay here and die or hide and live. As her eyes swept over the ruined town and over the still bodies of her family she felt her fear give way. In its place came a wave of raw hate so intense it took her breath away. Her ears rang and her head felt hollow. The blood in her veins turned to cold-fire as visceral hatred surged through her.

Someone had done this. Someone had let these things loose so that they could kill everybody. They needed to be stopped. They needed to be punished. With fresh resolve, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and spat the vomit from the mouth. She would hide and she would live. Then one day she would find the person responsible and make them pay.

XXX

Author's Notes and Disclaimer

Once again, I do not own Sailor Moon, nor am I making one red cent off this.

So, what did you think? It's a little bleaker than usual, certainly, but well there is a point to all of it. At least I hope there is. For everyone following the story, I'm sorry for the delay. I've had a host of things to do and I just haven't had the time to really put pen to paper (or should I say finger to key?). With holidays coming up, I hope to update more frequently.

As always, tell me what you think. I'm always interested in what you've got to say.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Well," Haruka demanded. "I'm waiting."

For just a moment Setsuna was tempted to make a cutting aside as to the importance of patience then thought better of it. The tension in Haruka's slender frame left little doubt as to what the blonde woman would have done had her better half not been in the room. It likely involved the two of them and a great deal of physical contact of the fist to face variety.

"I will begin when I am ready." She gazed steadily at first Haruka then each of the other senshi. "But not one word of this leave this room."

"But-"

"Not one word." Setsuna's tone brooked no disobedience. "Not a single word. Not even to Hotaru." Her gaze hardened and several of the others actually flinched. "Am I understood?" Still no one spoke. "Am I understood?"

"Fine." Haruka spat. The others quickly followed, though somewhat more timidly.

"I will start with a brief history of the Moon Kingdom." Here Setsuna grinned for the reticence of several of her fellow senshi towards history was well known. "The history of the solar system can be divided up into two major historical periods: before the ascension of Serenity I, and after.

"Prior to the ascension of Serenity I, each of the planets was largely autonomous. Naturally, this caused no small amount of tension once each of the planets became space-faring."

"Let me guess," Makoto said. "They tried to kill each other."

Crimson eyes narrowed. "You could say that. There was very little dialogue between the planets and atrocities were committed that are perhaps better left forgotten. Serenity I came to power in an age of strife and war. She had at her disposal arguably the largest, most well trained space fleet in the solar system. So she decided to use it.

"By today's standards her actions would probably be considered barbaric. At the time, however, she was hailed as something of a messiah. She brought peace to the solar system – never mind the cost. In short order she brought the Inner Planets under her control, and the Outer Planets soon followed.

"But she was left with a problem: how to administrate such a vast empire. She could hardly do it herself. Nor was simply removing the monarchies from each of the planets an option. They still had too many supporters and even if she was able to remove them, what structure could she use to replace them?

"Finally she established a dual-layered monarchy with herself at the top and each of the other royal families below her. Of course, she needed some way of ensuring the loyalty of her new royal subjects. So she took a hostage from each of the royal families: the eldest daughter. These hostages were taken to the Moon and educated there. They were taught to be unswervingly loyal to Serenity and upon proving themselves they were inducted into her bodyguard."

Setsuna smiled grimly. "Naturally, that wasn't the end of things. Serenity didn't just want hostages or bodyguards, she needed symbols."

Ami looked troubled. "What do you mean by 'symbols'?"

"Symbols of cooperation," Setsuna replied. "Symbols of what could be achieved if only the planets swore fealty to the Moon and its Lunar Empire." Something unreadable flashed through her eyes. "So she used the Moon's Silver Crystal to bestow each of her new bodyguards with powers."

"The Senshi…" Usagi breathed.

"Yes." Setsuna's smile was far from pleasant. "The Senshi."

"What does this have to do with Hotaru?" From what she'd heard so far, Haruka wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. But wanting to know, and needing to know were two very different things.

Setsuna took up the tale once again. "As I said, Serenity instituted a dual-layered monarchy. This had the effect of leaving each of the different planets' cultures largely intact. These differences were reflected in how each of the planets contributed to the Lunar Empire.

"For example, the warrior religion of Mars led to almost a quarter of the Empire's soldiers being drawn from that planet, while over a third of the Empire's scientists were from Mercury.

"But the people of Saturn were different. Saturn had fought hard for independence and even decades after Serenity's ascension, the royal family remained on very, very poor terms with the Moon. Indeed they were the only family not to send a daughter to the Moon. Serenity may well have taken a harder line against the Saturnian royal family if it wasn't for one little quirk.

"The soldiers of Mars worshipped battle. They lived, breathed, and died for the glory of combat. The soldiers of Saturn were different. They neither sought out war, nor took pleasure from it. Yet they were good, very, very good. So good in fact, that when the combined forces of Moon and Inner Planets first attacked Saturn they lost ten soldiers for every one of Saturn's.

"Thus Saturn was left largely to its own devices and so long as it continued to commit troops and resources to the Empire, all was well. That all changed during the reign of Serenity III, which was approximately three thousand years before Usagi was born.

"There had been several incidents of civil unrest and Serenity contemplated dispatching Empire troops to bring the situation under control but that offer was refused. Still, keep in mind that we can never truly know what happened next. The records kept on the Moon speak little of the event and even I would not dare go back through the Gates to see for myself what happened."

"Enough of the suspense, Setsuna." Haruka glowered at the emerald-haired woman. "What happened?"

"Saturn was completely destroyed."

Silence.

Makoto was the first to speak. "What? What do you mean destroyed?"

"The surface of Saturn was completely devastated along with all of the installations in orbit around the planet. Several ships en-route to Neptune were also destroyed. The energy backlash was so great that it rendered warp travel past Saturn impossible." Setsuna paused and let her words sink in. "The estimated death toll of the explosion was approximately three billion people."

More silence.

"It took twenty years for the energy residue of the explosion to fade enough for an exploration team to land on the surface of Saturn. They found a barren world, a dead rock utterly devoid of life without even a single building still standing. In the ruins of the royal palace they found this." Crimson light flickered around her outstretched palm before a small black cylinder appeared.

"Is that a data recorder?" Ami asked.

Setsuna smiled. "I'm glad you recognise it. I assume it's in the Mercury Computer's files." Ami nodded and Setsuna continued. "Rather than tell you what it says, I'll just let you listen to it for yourselves." She placed the data recorder on the table and stepped away. "Brace yourselves."

At first there was nothing but static. Finally a voice could be heard.

"Where's the second company?" Static. "Damn it, second company, come in!"

In the distance an explosion then what sounded like gunfire.

Another voice, different from the first. "They're gone, sir! We have to fall back to the Grand Ballroom!"

More static, broken only by the deep bass boom of what sounded like distant, but swiftly nearing explosions.

"Wait, sir. I've got something, it sounds like it's from third company!" The second voice again.

"Third company?" The first voice. "They're by the gates, right? Put it on."

There was the sound of something being switched on.

"Oh God!" The scream was filled with terror. "Oh God! She's here! She's here!"

There was an explosion then more screams and finally just static.

"They're gone." The second voice seemed shocked. "Just gone."

"Get everyone inside!" the first voice demanded. "Just get them inside. We'll try to head her off at the Ballroom."

More static.

"How long do you think we have?" It was the second voice again. "Before she gets here."

"Quiet," the first voice said. "I think she's here."

There was shriek before the sound of metal being torn apart.

"Fire! Open fire!"

Guns fired and there was a whoosh that sounded not unlike a rocket launcher followed by a tremendous explosion.

"Nothing is work!" Panic. "She's still advancing!"

Someone cried out; a wet splatter.

"What the hell was that?" it was the first voice. "She didn't even touch him!"

"The light!" someone else shouted. "That damn violet light! It's cutting through our armour! It's… aarghhhh!"

The first voice again, "All units fall back to the stairs. All units fall back to the stairs."

Another voice, this one painfully familiar to the Senshi. "Silence."

Nothing. There was no sound, not even static. Then came the roar. It filled the room, a thousand thunderbolts rolled into one. Then silence.

"Damn it…" the second voice. "What are you?"

"Death." That familiar voice again, so chilling now for it's utter lack of emotion. There was a crunch then a wet sound. Then silence.

Silence.

Setsuna reached over and turned the data recorder off. "That constitutes the only first hand account of the destruction of Saturn that survived. From the time noted by the recorder, it was taken approximately five minutes before the destruction of the planet." She closed her eyes. "I'm sure you recognise at least one of the voices." A bitter smile crossed her face. "And the violet lights and silence are the calling card of only one senshi."

"That doesn't mean a damn thing!" Haruka insisted. "Not a damn thing. Besides even if it was Saturn, there have probably been a hundred Saturns. I'm certainly not the first senshi of Uranus."

None of them noticed the slender figure by the door, her violet eyes wide with shock.

"And there lies the crux of it all." A sense of foreboding filled the room. "There has only ever been one Saturn and she was not empowered by Serenity as the others were."

"That's impossible!"

"The records are very clear about this. At no point in the Empire's history is a senshi of Saturn recorded. However on three separate occasions an entity with powers matching those that destroyed Saturn has appeared. 

"On the first occasion a massive demonic incursion forced the evacuation of the Outer Planets. When the invading demonic forces attempted to land on Saturn they came under fire from the planet's surface. More than half of the demons were killed before they retreated back to Neptune. Scans of the planet's surface revealed a single life form.

"On the second occasion, a rogue Empire general initiated a planetary bombardment against Saturn to deal with what he termed the 'false senshi'. The response was devastating: the entire fleet was destroyed. As a result further attempts to make contact with Saturn were suspended and the entire area deemed a restricted zone."

"And the third occasion?"

Setsuna smiled darkly at Ami. "On the third occasion the senshi of Pluto was dispatched to try and obtain Saturn's assistance in repelling another demonic invasion." She looked pointedly at Haruka. "On all three occasions reports were made as to Saturn's appearance and all of those reports match quite closely. There is little doubt that although the incidents are separated by a span of more than one thousand five hundred years, they are all referring to the same person."

"You didn't say what happened to Pluto," Ami said. "Was she able to make contact?"

"Yes." For a moment a look of nostalgia crossed Setsuna's face. "The two were able to come to an understanding, although it was difficult at first." She shook herself. "In her report Pluto recounted several conversation with Saturn as to her origins. Saturn confirmed Pluto's suspicions."

"So you're serious." Haruka slumped down onto the couch. "The Sailor Saturn we know today, our Hotaru, is the same Sailor Saturn that took out a planet? The same one that wiped out a fleet?" She shook her head. "God, none of this makes any sense."

"It makes perfect sense." Setsuna's voice was steady though her crimson eyes were undoubtedly troubled. "The Saturn of today is the same as the Saturn of then. Saturn has not died. To be honest, I'm not sure if she even can, or rather, if there's anything strong enough to actually kill her."

For a few moments no one said anything. Then a sob drew their eyes to the door. Hotaru stood there, head bowed, cheeks wet with tears. She opened her mouth as if to speak then stopped.

"Hotaru…" Setsuna whispered as she rose to her feet.

"Don't touch me."

Setsuna stopped and took a slow step back. Hotaru was no longer crying. Silence fell over the room once more, a silence too deep, too complete to be natural. Sparks of violet light crackled in the air around Hotaru's body.

"Don't you dare touch me."

X X X X

Author's Notes and Disclaimer

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a single cent out of this story.

I won't try and make any excuses about the long delay between chapters – I really haven't got any. All I can say is that I will try to get this story up and running again with more regular updates. So please don't lynch me.

Once again, tell me what you think. I'm always open to feedback.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Anyone else would have quailed in the face of Hotaru's icy fury, but not Setsuna. "Hotaru, calm down."

"Calm down?" Not a hint of emotion showed in Hotaru's dark eyes, but there could be no mistaking the hint of hysteria that had crept into her voice. "I am calm."

The silence that filled the room after Hotaru's comment was so thick it was almost material. It spread on wings of violet light and the room seemed to throb with a deep, soundless hum. The hum became a roar, became a high-pitched shriek heard less with the ears and more with the heart. First Ami then Michiru dropped to their knees, hands clutching at their heads.

Haruka looked at Setsuna in panic. Do something, the blonde tried to say into the turbulent silence. Do something! So Setsuna did.

Setsuna crossed the room in several swift steps and slapped Hotaru. The blow snapped the other woman's head back and Hotaru stumbled backwards. The unnatural quiet lifted but none of the others said a word. None of them could quite believe what they'd just seen and more than one of them was afraid of just what Hotaru's response would be.

Setsuna tore her gaze from the slowly reddening handprint on Hotaru's cheek and turned to face the others. Her eyes, hard at the best of times, were now twin pools of bloodied adamant. "All of you need to leave. Now."

"Setsuna…" Michiru looked from her daughter to the woman she trusted with her life. "I don't think that we should…" 

"Trust me." Something unreadable flickered briefly in Setsuna's eyes and her voice softened. "Please."

Michiru met Setsuna's gaze and held it. Finally she nodded, satisfied with what she'd seen in the older woman's eyes. "All right, Setsuna. But if you hurt her any more than you already have…"

The others followed Michiru out of the room but not before shooting her a variety of looks. Haruka looked very much like she wanted to tear her head off, while Mina seemed torn between wanting to stay (and find out the gossip) and getting well out of harm's way. And then there was Usagi. The look on her future queen's face was one of utter disappointment and it cut as deeply as any knife.

The instant the others were out of the room Hotaru rounded on Setsuna. Gone was the emotionless façade. In its place was a young woman with angry disbelief written across her features and white-hot fury in her veins. Under different circumstances Setsuna would have found the contrast to her usual behaviour quite amusing.

"You slapped me… I can't believe you actually slapped me!"

"I'm sorry, Hotaru, but it was necessary."

"Necessary?" Angry didn't begin to cover how she felt. Enraged was closer, if only a little. "What about it was necessary?"

"Would you rather I let you kill everyone in the room?" The moment the words left her mouth Setsuna wished she could take them back. "No, wait. That's not what I meant." She ran one hand through her hair. "Look, you didn't deserve that."

"No, Setsuna, I didn't." Shock warred with hurt on Hotaru's face. "And I don't deserve to have secrets kept from me, not when they're about my past!" A tear crept down her cheek. "Didn't you think that maybe, just maybe I might want to know?"

Setsuna flinched and looked away. She could deal with yelling but tears, she couldn't deal with tears, not when they were Hotaru's. "I thought it for the best. Saturn… her past was always something she regretted. When you were reborn I thought that maybe she'd, no," she corrected herself. "That maybe you would have the chance to leave it behind."

"Saturn? Is that who you see when you look at me? Is that why you're so afraid to tell me about my past? Are you afraid I'll turn out like her, like some kind of heartless monster?"

"Never say that!" Setsuna said sharply only dimly aware that her voice was trembling. "Never ever say that she was heartless!"

"Well what was she then? She killed a world, Setsuna. You said it yourself! What kind of person could do that?" Hotaru wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "Do you know how sick that makes me feel?"

"She wasn't heartless," Setsuna's voice was barely more than a whisper. "She wasn't. Perhaps if she had been then things would have been better for everyone."

"You know so much about who she was – who I was but you still haven't told me a thing! Maybe if you'd told me some of this earlier, maybe I… I wouldn't have had the dreams I've been having, wouldn't be seeing the things that I see!"

"Dreams? What kind of dreams?"

Hotaru laughed bitterly and scrubbed furiously at her cheeks. "Do you know what it's like to dream about killing a world, Setsuna? To watch a whole world wiped clean and marvel at the desolation? Can you have any idea about how terrifying that is when you know, you know, that you could do that if you wanted, that if one day you got the thought into your head you could kill every living thing on this planet?"

Setsuna shook her head.

"And that isn't the only thing I've dreamed about, Setsuna. I see things when I close my eyes, things I don't want to see, terrible things. I see a village in flames and a square littered with bodies. I see palaces of black stone cast down and a city left in ruins. I see the sun in an unfamiliar sky and it scares me because in that sky the sun is so small, so far away and I know I'm not on Earth."

"Hotaru…"

"I know the others dream about the old days, Setsuna, but they don't dream about the things I do. They dream about candles and ballrooms and gardens in full bloom. I don't. All that I dream of is death and I'm sick of it. I kept asking myself why I didn't dream about the things they did, why every time I closed my eyes I saw a planet left in ruins because of something I did. I thought I was going crazy. But you knew! You knew, Setsuna, and you didn't tell me!"

"Why didn't you say something before, Hotaru?"

"Say something?" Hotaru let loose an ugly laugh. "And would you have said anything, Setsuna?"

"I don't know," Setsuna admitted.

"Don't lie to me. You wouldn't have said a word about my past and you know it!"

"What can I say to you, Hotaru?" Setsuna said. How had things gotten so out of control? She hadn't wanted any of this. She'd only done what she thought was best and now… Something inside her clenched tight and she felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes.

For a moment Hotaru wanted to stop, to draw the older woman into her arms and tell her that it was okay, that she accepted her apology. But her anger was still too hot, her hurt too raw. So she pressed on, a ruthless edge to her voice now, even as a small part of her screamed for her to stop.

"You were the one weren't you, Setsuna? Or should I say, Pluto? You were the one who managed to bring Saturn, to bring me out isolation and back into the loving arms of the Moon. How did you do it? What reward did you offer so that you could use her, use me as the Moon's weapon?"

And now the tears did come and Setsuna wondered how the conversation had been turned so dramatically on its head. "I didn't use her, Hotaru! She was my friend, I loved her!"

"You don't lie to your friends, Setsuna. You don't lie to the people you love." Hotaru took a ragged breath. "And you keep wondering about what would help her, or what she would want, but Setsuna, she's gone. There's just me now, just Hotaru and maybe you should worry about what would help me, about what I would want."

"Hotaru…" Setsuna reached for the younger woman. "Please…"

The look of utter desolation in Setsuna's eyes almost stopped Hotaru. Almost. But somehow she forced herself to walk past the older woman and to the door. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I just… I just can't."

"I'm sorry…"

Hotaru stopped at the door and turned, her heart heavy with hurt and sorrow. Her voice, when it finally came was barely more than a croak. "Just… just give me time, Setsuna…"

And then Hotaru was gone and Setsuna was alone in the room, with nothing but the silence and her own bitter regret for company.

X X X

Hotaru sat on the park bench with her head in her hands. She wanted to throw up, she just felt so very sick inside. She was vaguely aware of the other people in the park, an old couple, a few children, a young woman with a dog but her mind wasn't on them at all.

Setsuna hadn't deserved all the things she'd said. It was true the older woman had lied to her, had kept secrets and gone behind her back, but would she have done any differently if put in that position? She honestly couldn't say. And Setsuna did love her, she was sure of that, even if she wasn't always very good at showing it.

Gingerly, she rubbed her sore cheek. Setsuna might have hurt her, but she'd definitely hurt her back. Hurt her back and then some, to tell the truth. It was just, everything had happened so fast. The lies had hurt and she'd just lashed out without thinking, without trying to put herself in Setsuna's shoes.

But it was the lack of trust that had hurt the most. Couldn't Setsuna trust her? Couldn't she trust her not to go crazy and blow up the world? If someone who'd raised her couldn't trust her, what did that say about the person she'd been? If only Setsuna had just told her earlier then everything would have been all right, there wouldn't have been any lies or anything else to fight over.

Something wet landed on her hair and Hotaru looked up. The skies were wrought with turbulent grey clouds and it had begun to drizzle. The drizzle quickly became a downpour and she jogged for the cover of some nearby shops. Halfway there, she heard a polite cough and turned.

"You know, it isn't really healthy to be out in rain like this."

She laughed weakly. The young man in front of her was singularly unremarkable in appearance but there was something about him that was at once familiar yet vaguely unsettling.

"Come on," he tipped his umbrella in her direction. "I'll walk you over to those shops."

"Okay," she found herself saying, still trying to puzzle out exactly where she'd seen him before. "Thanks."

"My pleasure." 

She'd probably seen him around school, she decided. Yes, that was it. Still, he seemed kind enough and the offer of an umbrella wasn't unappreciated.

"You seem a little troubled."

"Oh." She shrugged. "It's a long story."

"Long story, huh." He grinned and once again she felt a tingle of unease run up her spine. "Trust me, I know all about those."

X X X

Author's Notes and Disclaimer

Once again, I don't own Sailor Moon and I am not making a single cent off this story.

First off, let me apologise if this chapter is a little shorter than the others. I was originally going to post up one longer chapter, but thought better of it. I hope I haven't bored too many of you with the dialogue in the past two chapters, and I hope I haven't made too much of a mess of the argument in this chapter.

As always, tell me what you think. I'm always open to feedback.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"This is going to sound a bit strange, but I think I know you from somewhere." The rain came down more heavily and Hotaru quickened her pace. "Are you in my class?"

The young man gave her a nervous smile and tried to match her pace as he did his best to cover both of them with the umbrella. "Yeah, I'm in your class. I sit three seats behind you, but I don't blame you for not recognising me. I'm not exactly the most popular person in the class."

"Oh."

He scratched the back of his head with one hand and steadied the umbrella against the wind with the other. "Like I said, don't worry about it. It's not like I recognised you either at first. Normally, I only see the back of your head so I wasn't really sure it was you."

They crossed the street in a hurry and stopped under the awning in front of a small strip of shops. There was a café there and a bakery as well, and the scent of freshly made food mingled with the damp, earthy smell of the rain. Hotaru heard her stomach rumble and she was suddenly aware of just how hungry she was.

"Tell you what, why I don't I get you a coffee or something." He shifted his weight nervously from foot to the other. "Maybe something to eat too, it sounds like you could use it."

The thought of food was tempting but she should probably get back home and sort things out. "I'm sorry, but I don't…"

"Oh." He looked downcast. "Look, just so you know. I wasn't trying to hit on you or anything, I just thought you might be hungry and…"

Again she felt that curious wave of déjà vu. The niggling sense of unease she felt seemed utterly at odds with how he'd acted so far. He'd been nothing but kind and even now, he looked ready to just leave after her rejection.

He must have taken her silence for condemnation because he winced and smiled ruefully. "I guess you can see why I'm so unpopular."

Then again, she wasn't ready to deal with everything back home just yet. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." He nodded at the café. "Still, what do you say? I'll even buy."

"Well…. I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Great." He smiled, properly this time. "Thanks."

The café was warm and cosy and they managed to snare a table well away from the cold and rain. It was pretty busy as well, with about two dozen other people scattered across the tables. Most of them were in the same position as them, caught out by the rain and none too eager to go back out while it continued to fall so heavily.

"So why were you out there, if you don't mind my asking? I mean you looked pretty sad is all." An awkward silence greeted his question. "That's okay, it's none of my business, I guess."

"No, it's all right." She glanced over at the counter. Their drinks still weren't ready. "I've just had one of those days."

"Yeah? Well, I know how you feel. Still, it can't get worse can it?"

She glared.

"Oh… it's one of 'those' days." He gave another one of those overly self-conscious laughs. "You know, that whole 'life's a bitch and then you die' thing."

She laughed, it was hard not to. "I don't want to sound rude, but I don't even know your name." She smiled sheepishly.

"No worries." He extended his hand across the table. "I'm Shinjiro and it's a pleasure to meet you."

She took his hand. Really he wasn't all that bad, even if he was a little weird. Still, there was something a little overly bright about his smile. No, he was probably just happy about possibly making a friend.

"Likewise. I'm Hotaru."

"Ah, look. Our drinks are here."

The waitress set their drinks on the table along with a few slices of banana bread. Hotaru took a few moments to savour the warmth of her hot chocolate before drinking it. It was warm and smooth, and sweet and altogether better tasting than anything in the world had a right to be. A slice of banana bread followed and she could almost feel her worries melting away.

"Good?"

"Yes, thanks." She shot him a worried look. "I hope this doesn't cost you too much."

"No, it's no biggie." He glanced over his coffee at her conspiratorially. "I used to stop by here a fair bit when I was younger. They're pretty cheap, actually."

They chatted away as they ate and she was forced to concede that her initial impression of him had been wrong. He really was a pretty decent guy, even if he was a little strange. Though truth be told, she could hardly call anyone else strange given her own rather interesting private life.

"So, what did you think?" They'd finished up and he was beckoning the waitress over to pay. "Not bad was it?"

"It was good."

"So I guess, I'll see Monday, huh." He looked nervous again.

"Yes, I'll see you Monday." She should probably go over to his desk at school next time. He was actually pretty easy to talk to.

She was about to stand up when a feeling of icy dread washed over her. Her hands clenched into fists and she bit her lip. Where had she felt this before?

"Are you okay?"

There it was again, a sense of foreboding so strong it made it hard to think of anything else. She forced herself to relax and looked around the café. Just be calm, she thought. See, nothing going on, just some people enjoying a coffee and a chat. Nothing strange going on at all, but still the feeling remained.

The café shifted before her eyes and she had a sudden vision of its interior in ruins. A shiver crawled down her spine. Something was going to happen, something bad. She needed to transform, but where? It was far too crowded and the doors and windows were on the opposite side of the café.

"What's wrong, Hotaru?"

"Get out of here." She batted his hand away. "Go!"

He looked hurt. "If I did something to offend you, I'm sorry."

She softened her voice. "It's not that. It's just… we need to get out of here."

"If you say so." He looked a little doubtful but followed her toward the doors anyway.

They were halfway to the doors when the back wall of the café came apart in a cloud of bricks, wood, and plaster. The lights sputtered crazily then blew in a shower of sparks. The café went dark as panic broke out. The dust cleared and something out of a nightmare stepped through the hole in the wall. She couldn't make out its body, but its eyes were easy enough to see, like a pair of bloody diamonds in the darkness.

"What is that?" Shinjiro murmured.

"Don't look," she replied. "Just run!"

That was easier said than done. People had already begun to try and get out the doors and in their panic they only got in each other's way. Someone fell only to be trampled as still others tried to shove their way through the door. Someone else, too frightened to think straight, threw themselves through one of the windows. They tumbled through in a shower of glass and sprawled onto the pavement covered in blood.

Hotaru tried to get to the doors. She needed to get out of here and find some place to transform. Someone shoved her from behind and she nearly fell but she felt strong hands grab her and looked up to see Shinjiro with one hand on her arm.

"Watch where you're going, buddy!" he shouted.

Somehow they made it out the door, only to be separated as the panic spilled onto the streets. The crowd pushed them apart and swept her one way and Shinjiro the other.

"Hotaru!"

She grimaced. She didn't want to worry him, but it was better this way. With any luck the crowd would keep him out of danger. For a few moments she let the crowd carry her along before she managed to find an alley to duck into.

As she felt the familiar rush of the transformation wash over her she tried to gather her thoughts. Another attack so soon? She needed to get in touch with the others. However she got nothing but static on her communicator and she wondered if maybe someone was jamming it. Now that was a scary thought. Nothing for it then, she'd just have to try and keep the situation under control and hope the others either sensed it or picked it up over the television or radio.

Screams echoed down the street and she leapt off the walls of the alley and onto the roof. From there she had a bird's eye view of the street and what she saw was not good. The creature had broken through the front of the café and was now on the street terrorising anyone within reach.

In the darkness of the café, the creature had seemed quite similar to the one she'd fought earlier but now she could see how different it really was. Its entire body was covered in large jagged scales. Dark viscous ooze wept from the gaps between scales and each movement that it made grated the scales against one another in a grisly, charnel rhythm. Jagged spikes of what looked to be rock or bone protruded from its forearms like claws and its massive legs bent backward at the knees like the hind legs of a goat. Its face was an expressionless black pit, devoid of anything save for a pair of burning red eyes. Even hunched over as it was, the creature was massive. It had to be at least four metres tall.

She summoned the Silence Glaive and contemplated trying to blast it from a distance but there just too many people nearby. The last thing she wanted to do was injure any civilians. It would have to be hand-to-hand combat then, a prospect that she was not looking forward to at all, given what had happened last time. But this time would be different. She would keep control of herself.

Her mind made up, she leapt off the roof. The air rushed past her and she lifted the Glaive over her head in preparation for her strike. Yet at the last moment, the creature seemed to sense her. It jerked to the side and Glaive sliced into the sidewalk. Before she could regain her balance the creature lunged forward and she retreated beneath a storm of blows.

Ducking and dodging around the creature's attacks, she swept the Glaive up and through the creature's shoulder. Its arm came off in a fountain of black gore and she whipped the Glaive around in a follow up strike that cut a deep gash across its stomach. With a howl, the creature slammed its spined arms into the ground. The ground trembled and a water main burst, adding to the water already on the street from the rain.

She darted forward again, only to lose her footing on the slick concrete. The creature surged towards her and she was again on the defensive. There was a part of her that wanted to blow the creature to pieces, to bring her power to bear regardless of the consequences. Ruthlessly, she forced herself to stay calm as she struck back with clinical precision. At last, she was able to drive the Glaive deep into the creature's chest. It gave a guttural groan and she wrenched the weapon to the side. The creature tumbled to the ground and lay still, though just to be sure that it was dead, she drove the Glaive into its chest one more time.

"Impressive."

The words were clearly audible over the rain and the burst water main and she turned to try and find the speaker.

"I doubt that any of your fellow Senshi would have dealt with one of our soldiers quite so easily." The distinctly male voice seemed to come from all around her. "But you'll not find me such easy prey."

The water at her feet began to bubble and she leapt backwards just in time to avoid a geyser of water that ripped up through the concrete. Another water main? No, she thought. It was something else. The water around the geyser began to darken and when the geyser finally subsided in its place was a pool of jet-black liquid. She'd put money on it not being water.

"I hope you're ready." The black liquid bubbled upward, solidified and took on a vaguely humanoid form. "I know I am." At his feet, the water shifted, restless and turbulent and she felt a bead of sweat trickle down her temple as she realised the trouble she was in. If he could control water, then, with the rain and burst water main, she was at a distinct disadvantage.

"Now," he murmured. "Let us begin."

Water shot towards her almost too fast to see. She threw herself to the side as the water pulverised the power pole beside her and hurled it to the ground. Then she was up on her feet and running chased by thick tendrils of water that gouged out thick chunks of the street and sidewalk whenever they hit.

She needed to get in close somehow, and bring the Glaive into play. There were still too many people around – why hadn't they run? – for her to use her other powers safely. In the distance, she heard sirens and she hoped that the others were on their way. Another jet of water streaked towards her and she lashed out with the Glaive. The weapon's edge sliced through the water, but the liquid simply slid past the blade and slammed into her regardless. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs and she stumbled behind a car for cover.

More water smashed into the car and she rolled beneath it as it flew over her and into one of the shops. She sprinted towards him, rolling to the side to dodge another attack, before she thrust the Glaive towards his chest only to have the weapon screech to a halt a few inches short. Her eyes widened in surprise. How had he stopped it? Then she looked down. Tendrils of water had latched onto her arms.

"You have a weapon of such power and yet you don't even know how to use it."

A wave of water lifted her up off her feet and threw her through a shop window. She hurtled through the glass and landed in a display of canned goods. The Glaive slipped from her fingers and she scrambled to get back on her feet. Water rushed into the shop and she was buffeted from shelf to shelf.

"How pathetic."

She looked up. "Who sent you?" she rasped. "Why are you here?" 

He said nothing, merely gestured with one arm. Pillars of water rose up behind him and she looked around for the Glaive.

"This ends here."

She leapt for the Glaive as the water roared down towards her.

"Silence Wall!"

The rush of water swallowed her desperate cry as the shop was engulfed by his attack. Unable to move, she could only stand there, the Glaive held in front of her as the water strained against her defence. Wisps of spray washed over the light purple barrier and she felt the wall begin to slip from her control.

"No…" she murmured, trying to keep the wall up. "No…"

The wall shattered with a sound like cracking glass and the water swept her away with a titanic roar. She was thrown from one wall to another, driven into shelves and counters. Her whole world became one mass of pain and she felt conscious begin to slip away.

_Get up._

That voice. It was a man's voice and it seemed, so familiar.

_The fight is not over yet._

She strained to remember where she'd heard it. But her body hurt too much to focus, too much for her to gather her thoughts.

_Pain? Pain is nothing. We are already dead you, and I, and what can pain do to the dead?_

Her eyes glazed. Dead? She wasn't dead, not yet anyway. She just needed… she just needed…

X X X

It took three days before someone finally came to the town. Three days that she spent hiding in the ruins of her home and scrounging what food she could from the burnt out shops. And the monsters were always there, sleek shadows with ruby eyes and teeth like daggers.

She did her best to sleep, but whenever she closed her eyes they were there, her family. She'd remember what she'd seen in the town square and wake up wanting to scream so badly that she had to clamp her hands over her mouth to stop herself lest the monsters hear her and come after her as well.

If only she could forget the blood and the smell, that smell. But she didn't cry. Because crying would only get her killed and she needed to live. She needed to live so that one day she could go after those things herself and kill them all. Her hatred kept her warmer than any of the tattered blankets she managed to find.

On the third day, he arrived. He wore black all over and even his eyes, when she saw them, were black, twin pools of shadowed ice. He swept through the town like a killer wind and though she'd thought the monsters deadly, he was deadlier by far.

The monsters fled before him. Some of them fought, but they died and well before dusk came on the third day, the town square was piled high with sleek black corpses. He found her then. She'd watched him from hiding, not sure if she'd survived the monsters only to come across something worse. The way he fought scared her. It wasn't that he killed she could accept that. It was how he did it. He fought with absolute brutality, ripping the monster's limb from limb with his bare-hands or else with the shadows he seemed to command as easily as his own arms and legs. And his face, even as he drove his arm through the chest of a monster it never changed: he was calm. Blood sprayed and still his expression never shifted. He was black ice and deadlier than anything she'd ever known.

He found her crouched behind some rubble and pulled her up to eye level. She met his gaze squarely, though he was covered in blood and gore. She knew that fighting would achieve nothing. If he wanted her dead then she was dead, it really was that simple. But he merely looked at her content it seemed, to take her measure.

"You survived here for three days." His voice was soft though his expression didn't waver in the slightest. "What will you do now?"

"I need to become stronger!" she cried. "I need to kill those things! All of them!"

His eyes narrowed. "Those things come from the Between. It is their nature to kill."

"That doesn't matter! They deserve to die and after I've killed them I'll find the person who brought them from the Between and kill them too!"

"So it is vengeance that you want." His dark eyes swept over the carnage littered across the town square. "What would you do to be strong enough to kill them, to kill the one who called them?"

"Anything!"

He looked at her, his gaze so sharp it seemed to cut right down to her soul. Around them the scent of blood mingled with the scent of ash to make a strange, heady smell. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes!"

"Then come with me. I will make you strong."

She met his gaze, speechless. Was he serious? Should she accept? If she did, then would she become like him, someone who looked dead to the world, someone who killed without hesitation or mercy? No, she was dead already. She'd died three days ago with her family. Slowly, she nodded.

"Yes, I'll go with you."

He took her hand in his and smiled. It was a kind smile, but a sad one too. His voice too was sad when he spoke. "I understand." He looked away, lost in memory. "I died a long time ago too."

X X X

Saturn stood. Water dripped off her and onto the floor of the shop.

_Move._ The voice was hers, but it was different somehow. It was Saturn's voice, not Hotaru's. _Now._

She dove to the side as the water went after her again. She felt different now, faster. The world was clearer to. She was Saturn and everything was simple.

_Attack._

She glided forward, dodging another attack. Halfway there, she stooped to pick up the Glaive.

_Quickly, go after him._

Her opponent retreated, casting a wave of water at her. She vaulted over the water and brought the Glaive down in a tremendous overhead chop. He tried to stop it like he had before, but the Glaive had too much force behind it. Still, despite he managed to dodge the blow and he let loose a barrage of water.

_Throw the Glaive._

She rolled to the side then threw the Glaive. The weapon sailed threw the air and struck him squarely in the stomach. The force of the throw drove him back, and the Glaive pinned him against a wall.

_Break him._ The words echoed in her mind, all the more disturbing for the utter lack of emotion behind them. _Rip and tear._

She felt herself move, only barely aware of what she was doing. A jet of water rushed towards her. She lashed out with one fist and the jet exploded apart.

_Kill without doubt. Destroy without hesitation._

Her punch sailed through the wall of water he'd erected and snapped his head back. Unable to move with the Glaive pinning him to the wall, he could only stand there and take the full brunt of her assault. Another punch broke his jaw and she grabbed the Glaive and wrenched it out of his stomach. It came free in a shower of black blood.

"Monster…" he gurgled. "Monster…"

_He is the monster._ The voice that was hers yet not hers was relentless. _Make him suffer._

She drove one of her hands through his chest.

"Argghhhhh!"

Somehow he managed to jerk himself free.

_Let him run. It will make no difference._

"You can run," she said, inwardly terrified at how calm her voice was. Blood dripped from her fingertips. "It makes no difference."

He stumbled to his feet. Fear flashed through him. Only moments ago he'd been winning and now, now he could barely stand, let alone run. But if he stayed he was finished.

He ran.

She went after him.

And in the end she was right. Running didn't make a difference.

X X X

"That was… gruesome."

"That?" Shinjiro chuckled and looked down over the edge of the roof. "Oh, you mean that." There was nothing left of the water controller but a bloody smear. "Well, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, I suppose."

"A few eggs?"

"I can see you don't get the analogy. It's like chess. Sometimes you need to be willing to sacrifice a few pawns to win."

"Pawns?" The other speaker seemed annoyed but Shinjiro didn't bother to turn. "He may have been a pawn, but he was a useful one. Besides, we have too few pieces on the board to be so wasteful."

"Well, it's working isn't it?"

"Yes." A pause. "She is awakening, but there are other ways to achieve that, ways that are not quit so taxing on our own… meagre resources."

"Still, this is the fastest way."

"True."

"And besides, none of those other ways are anywhere near as entertaining to watch as this."

"That is hardly the point, Shinjiro."

"You're no fun." Shinjiro rolled his eyes. "Still, you have to admit I've made quite impressive progress."

"Yes."

"So, what's the problem?"

"Just be careful. You know that I am firmly on your side but there are others just waiting for you to make a mistake. It would be foolish to play so easily into their hands."

"You worry too much." He grinned. "Well, hopefully I'll see her come Monday morning." A sly grin crossed his face. "You really should come to class, you know. I think you'd look quite nice in a school uniform."

Silence.

"Heh. Figures, you always were a bit of a prude."

X X X

Author's Notes

As I've said before, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making any money out of this.

Well… what can I say? It took me a little longer to get this out than I planned, but hopefully it was worth the wait. This chapter's a lot longer than any of the others, and in retrospect, I'm happy with my decision to split it off from the previous chapter. I really wanted to get things moving along a little, and with any luck that's been accomplished.

As always, tell me what you think. If you've got any comments, I'd be happy to hear from you. Reviews are always more than welcome.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Uranus watched Saturn finish her opponent off and struggled not to throw up. It was slaughter, plain and simple. Saturn's opponent was little more than a pile of mangled flesh at the centre of a black starburst of blood and gore.

"I know you're there, Uranus."

She froze and felt every drop of blood in her body turn to ice. That voice… that voice did not belong to the Saturn she loved like her own flesh and blood. Heart suddenly racing, she stepped out from the shadows. "Saturn, what are you doing? This isn't… this isn't what we do?"

"What we do?" Saturn laughed, a harsh, ugly sound and yanked the Glaive free of her opponent's corpse. The weapon came loose in a shower of black blood and for a moment the purple-haired young woman simply stared at the weapon's edge, seemingly fascinated by the play of light across the gleaming tenebrous blade. "Tell me, Uranus, what is that we do exactly?"

Uranus swallowed and felt a bead of sweat trickle down her temple. What was going on here? What had happened to Hotaru? "We're protectors, Saturn. This…" she gestured at the desiccated ruin at Saturn's feet. "This isn't protection."

Saturn shook her head. "We've killed before, Uranus and we'll kill again. I really don't see what difference it makes. I eliminated the threat, didn't I?" 

"Eliminated?" There was an edge of hysteria in Uranus' voice. "Eliminated? I'll say, you eliminated the threat and then some."

"Oh?" Saturn's eyes narrowed and Uranus was suddenly, terribly aware of her situation. She was out here on her own and if Saturn attacked… well she wasn't too sure that she'd be able to hold her off. Almost instinctively she took a slow step backwards. It was a mistake. Saturn's noticed the movement and for an instant something that might have been sadness flickered through her eyes. And then the emotion was gone, just gone, replaced by that horrible calm. "It seems that you're just like all the others, Uranus."

"What… what do you mean?"

"You're afraid of me." Saturn waved the Glaive in a lazy arc over her head, flicking the blood from the weapon to stain the wall behind her. "You raised me and you're still afraid of me. You think I'm a monster."

"I don't think you're a monster," Uranus replied. She needed to get this situation under control. Saturn didn't sound angry but there was something about the way she stood, light and easy on the balls of her feet, that gave away her intentions. The violet-eyed woman was either getting ready to run… or to fight.

"Really, Uranus, you say you're not afraid but then… why are you sweating so much… why is your pulse racing… why Uranus, are you looking at my so intently?" Saturn's eyes hardened, became twin pools of purple adamant. "I'll tell you why: you're afraid. Do you have any idea how much that hurts, to have your own parents think you're a monster?"

Uranus held her hands up. "Just wait a second there, Saturn. We can talk this through."

"Talk?" The tone of Saturn's voice changed became somehow older and when she spoke again, her voice carried the weight of millennia behind it. "This is just like before…" She drew in a ragged breath. "Just like the last time… I can't trust you… I can't trust any of the others."

"What are you saying, Saturn?" What was wrong with her? Uranus felt fear, real fear pool low in her gut, as Saturn swayed on her feet. The purple haired woman was muttering to herself, almost as if… as if she was trying to explain something to herself.

"You're just another one of the Lunar Empire's dogs!" Saturn stiffened and the Glaive whipped up. "I can't believe that I ever trusted you, you or the others! Not after… not after what you were all responsible for!"

"Lunar Empire? Saturn, I don't know what you're talking about." Then Uranus remembered Pluto's words. Was… was Saturn remembering her past? If Saturn was… then she needed to get out of here now. This wasn't her Saturn, wasn't the child she'd taken in. No this was the Saturn that Pluto had told them about, the same Saturn that had annihilated fleets and wiped out an entire planet.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Fury filled Saturn's voice. "You think I don't remember who was responsible for what happened to my family? You think I don't know how the Empire planned everything?" She sobbed. "I remember now… I remember what happened and I think… that maybe I should finish what I started all those years ago."

"Saturn…" Uranus began only to stop short as Saturn dashed forward almost too fast for her eyes to follow. Instinct alone saved her as the Silence Glaive swept through the air where her head had been only an instant ago. But before she could even think of trying to counterattack, the other senshi lashed out with one leg. The kick caught her full in the stomach and her breath rushed out of her as she doubled over. Blindly she rolled to the side, only narrowly avoiding another strike that would have cut her in half. Scrambling backwards she activated her communicator. "Help…" she gasped. "Guys… I need help right now."

X X X X

Pluto raced toward Uranus location praying that she'd be fast enough. When she had received Uranus call for help she hadn't stopped to think but now she wished she had. What would she do if her worst fears were confirmed and Saturn had started to remember her past? While the Saturn she had helped raise was formidable, none of them stood a chance if the old Saturn had awakened as well. If that happened… there was nothing they could do except try and reason with her and if she had remember just why she hated the Lunar Empire so much, Pluto doubted that would work either.

Her worst fears were confirmed when she arrived. Uranus had the Space Sword out and was doing her best to try and stem Saturn's attack but it was clear who was winning. While the blonde senshi was covered in bruises and cuts – the fact that all of her limbs were still intact was a testament to her skill – the dark haired senshi looked just fine save for the black blood splattered all over her uniform.

"Saturn!" Pluto cried. "Stop!"

And surprisingly, Saturn did. "Pluto… it's been a long time." Saturn's expression was inscrutable. "Tell me, are you with them?"

Pluto shivered. She knew that voice. A casual observer might think it the same as Hotaru's but there subtle differences. The inflection on the words was different, and there was a slight huskiness that Hotaru would probably develop as she grew older. But for now, at least, that voice was unmistakably that of old Saturn.

"Well, Pluto? Are you with me or are you with them?"

"What's going on here?" Uranus shouted as she looked from Pluto to Saturn. The two women were locked in a silent battle of wills. "Pluto, what's wrong with Saturn?"

"She is remembering," Pluto said.

"Yes, and I remember a great many things, Pluto." Saturn's eyes narrowed and while anyone else would have flinched away from her gaze, Pluto met her stare without fear. "And I have a question for you. Why didn't you tell me about my past?"

"Because I knew you would act like this." Pluto leapt from the roof to stand no more than a few metres from the other woman. "Because I thought… no… I hoped that you might have a chance to leave your past behind."

"Leave my past behind?" Saturn shook her head. "Do you remember the creed of the royal house of Saturn?"

Pluto nodded. It was a hard thing to forget, for it summed up why the people of Saturn had made such effective soldiers, why even the Lunar Empire had been cautious in meddling in their affairs. "Never forget. Never forgive." Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the other senshi and made a small gesture for them to keep back.

Saturn must have caught the movement because she chuckled darkly and let here eyes wander over the newly arrived senshi. "So they've all come here, just for me?"

"They care about you." Pluto took a step forward. "You know that."

"They don't care!" Saturn said. "They just want another weapon to keep everyone else in line. Isn't that why they sent you all those years ago? Because Serenity finally let her greed get that better of her fear."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Pluto said sadly. "But they are different." Her eyes shifted to Moon. "She is different."

"No. Nothing ever changes. It's always the same. You of all people should know that. How many Serenity's did you serve, Pluto? How many them gave damn about anyone other than themselves?" She lifted the Glaive. "The world would be a better place if I just killed all of them right now."

"Wait, Saturn!" Uranus shouted.

"You won't." Pluto took another step forward then another till she stood directly in front of the Glaive, its tip nor more than an inch from her chest. "I know you won't."

"What makes you so sure?" Something flickered in Saturn's eyes.

"Because Uranus is still alive. I know you, Saturn, better than they do, better than they ever will. You have the power to cut a planet in half. If you really, really wanted Uranus dead she would be. It is as simple as that." Pluto reached out and pushed the Glaive aside. "As much as you hate them, as much as you hate everything they stand for there is a part of you that loves them." Her eyes softened. "You said that you remember your past, well what about your present? They are your friends. Uranus, Neptune and I… we have raised you as our own and the others… you are like family to them."

The Glaive quivered in Saturn's grasp and when she spoke there was such longing in her voice that Pluto nearly wept. "Family…"

"Saturn put down the Silence Glaive."

"I can't." It was Hotaru speaking now as much as old Saturn. "I can't."

"You can."

"Why do I hate them?" Saturn dropped to her knees. "Tell me! Why do I hate them so much? Why does one part of me want to tear them limb from limb while the rest of me doesn't ever want to see them hurt?"

And at last Pluto understood and the understanding took her breath away. Remembering hadn't let old Saturn take over Hotaru's body, at least not in the literal sense. Instead the violet-eyed girl was torn between two worlds. She remembered what the Lunar Empire had done to her in the past but at the same time she remembered what Usagi and the others meant to her in the present. One part of her had sworn to tear down the Lunar Empire, the other to protect it at any cost. Saturn had learned to control her hate and rage and sorrow, had learned to bury them beneath a dark and terrible calm. Hotaru had not. If anything Hotaru felt things more deeply, more keenly than any of the Senshi save perhaps Usagi.

"I want to hate them!" Saturn sobbed. "Why can't I just hate them?"

Pluto took the other senshi into her arms. What could she say that could make things better? "I'm sorry," she said at last. "I'm sorry."

X X X X

Author's notes

First off: I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off of this.

Second: I'm not even go to try and excuse the long delay. All I will say is that I've had things going on in real life and that I hope to be able to update on a more regular basis from now on. That said, this chapter was probably the hardest for me to write. For all of those people wondering exactly what Saturn remembered, don't worry – you'll find out soon enough.

As always, I welcome your feedback.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Haruka stopped and stared. Setsuna was sitting at the dinner table with several empty snifters of brandy in front of her and another half empty container within easy reach. "Setsuna?"

"How is Hotaru?" Setsuna murmured, noting with almost malicious satisfaction the slight slur to her speech.

"She's sleeping." Haruka considered sitting down but then thought better of it. The absolute last thing she needed to deal with was a drunk Setsuna. "She pretty much cried herself to sleep once we got her home."

"Can you blame her?" Setsuna took a long sip of brandy and sighed. "I certainly don't."

"Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Honestly?" Setsun's face darkened. "I don't know. Saturn was… no… is a difficult person to understand. Her… upbringing was… difficult, to say the least."

"Just how much do you know?" Haruka demanded. "What aren't you telling us?"

"A lot." Setsuna watched the surprise play across Haruka's face and nearly laughed. "But I'm not the one to tell you. We all have our secrets, Haruka, and Saturn is no different. If you want to know, you're going to have to ask Hotaru."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea." Whatever doubts Haruka might have had about Saturn's prowess had been assuaged by the beating the other senshi had handed out earlier that day and frankly she didn't see any need to ask for an encore.

Setsuna shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Look…" Haruka wanted to tell the other woman not to beat herself up over the way that things had turned out but it was obvious how pointless that would be. Setsuna might not be one for tears, but she'd been damn close that afternoon. Still… she couldn't just leave her to drink herself stupid in the dining room could she? "Setsuna…" she fumbled for the words. "Just… good night."

"Good night, Haruka."

Sitting in the dark after Haruka left, Setsuna let her mind wander over the events of the past few days, turning them over in her mind. Was there something that she'd missed? Some action she could have taken that might have led to a different outcome? Perhaps it was the brandy talking, but she couldn't think of anything she could have done differently. She smiled bitterly. Who would have thought, all those years ago, that she'd get herself drunk over Saturn?

X X X X

The war room deep within the Lunar Palace was a scene of chaos as those within tried to keep up with the carnage. A huge screen devoted to the status of the various Fleet and Infantry units that had been deployed covered one entire wall of the massive chamber. It was not pleasant viewing.

A shrill alarm went off and it took a moment for the analyst in charge to overcome his shock and clamber onto his feet. "Your… Your Majesty," he stammered, scarcely able to believe what he was about to say. "We have lost the Grand Gate on Neptune."

"Impossible!" Sailor Mars spat. "As of last night we had almost one million men on Neptune, and more than five hundred ships in orbit. Are you telling me that every one of them is lost? Because that is what it would take for the Gate to fall, to say nothing of Sailor Neptune!"

The analyst trembled. "I meant no offence… I was merely…"

"Enough." Silence fell over the room as Queen Serenity rose from her chair overlooking the war room. "Have we received word from Sailor Neptune?"

One of the communications specialists in the room spoke up. "I've just received information from the Grand Lunar Gate: Neptune has arrived along with some survivors."

"And what is her condition?"

"She is badly wounded, Your Majesty." The communications specialist shivered beneath the Queen's inscrutable gaze.

"Very well." Serenity closed her eyes. "Seal the Gate and shut off all power to the hyper space tunnels."

"Your Majesty!" Shock filled Mars' voice. "You cannot be serious! Neptune has only just returned, there may yet be more survivors! And what of our troops on Uranus and Jupiter? Deactivating the gates will leave them with no means of retreat except for Fleet evacuation."

"What would you have me do, Mars?" Serenity asked, her voice eerily calm. "Leave the Gates open? To what end? We may save some of our men but rest assured the demons are not fools. They have already demonstrated their understanding of hyperspace technology. Would you have them use our very own Gates against us?"

Mars bit her lip until it bled and drove one fist into the wall beside her. The stone cracked and the advisors on either side of her took a wary step away. "As you command, Your Majesty."

"Mars." Serenity's voice lashed out like a whip and even in her anger the senshi couldn't stop herself from snapping to attention. "You are the finest warrior that I have. Do not force me to have you removed from this room. You will do no one any good if that happens."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Mars said, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "I apologise."

"You are forgiven, Mars." Serenity smiled softly, careful to soothe the senshi's battered pride before she turned to address the communications officers. "I have received word that the populace of Pluto has already been evacuated to Earth, but what of Sailor Pluto?"

In reply, the air beside the Queen shimmered and Sailor Pluto appeared in a flash of crimson light. Her sudden appearance had every weapon in the room trained either on her head or her chest, but if that bothered her, the green-haired woman gave no sign.

"I am here, Your Majesty."

"I have heard," Serenity began, choosing her words carefully. "That amongst the outer planets, Pluto alone has not been attacked. Explain."

Pluto nodded, well aware of the dark look that Mars was giving her. While Mars itself had not come under attack, the senshi of fire was a close friend of both Uranus and Jupiter and it enraged her to no end to be stuck in the war room while her friends fought for their lives on the battlefield. Although she was fiercely loyal and an excellent tactician Mars was also very short tempered. If the look on her face was any indication, she had no doubt already come up with some twisted view of things that had Pluto in league with the demons.

"Pluto is one of the locations most closely linked to the Gates of Time. By virtue of that link, I can, at least for a time, cloak Pluto within the higher dimensional space that houses the Gates of Time. However such a cloak can have somewhat… deleterious effects on living things other than myself."

"I see." Serenity was well versed in Pluto's gift for understatement, so she knew exactly what those 'deleterious effects' would be. The last person to try and enter the Gates of Time uninvited had ended up dead, but not before being driven completely insane. "Would you be able to do this for the other planets?"

"I regret to say that I cannot. Only Pluto is closely bound enough to the Gates to allow it."

"That still doesn't explain why you haven't reported until now!" Mars growled as she stomped up the stairs to the balcony where Serenity sat. "While the rest of us senshi have either been in here planning or out there bleeding, where have you been, Pluto?"

"Observing." Pluto met Mars' gaze squarely and it was the other woman who blinked first, turning away with a disgusted scowl. "It is foolish to fight an enemy of whom we know nothing."

"Then why aren't you with Mercury trying to work out how we can kill these damn monsters?"

"Mars," Serenity said, her brow creasing as she let a hint of her impatience show. She had little time to waste on the internecine strife between her senshi, though she would address it soon enough. Pluto had served her mother, and while Serenity ruled with absolute authority, she was wise enough to recognise and make use of the razor sharp intellect behind Pluto's crimson eyes. "Now, Pluto. Your conclusions?"

"We have encountered these things before." Pluto turned to address the main data projector at the centre of the room. "Display record FSTL-8180 from the Imperial Archives."

The projector filled to life and an image of one of the demon's appeared. Many of the people in the room visibly recoiled from the hideous sight, but Serenity merely waved one hand. "We have seen our enemy, Pluto. Make your point."

"Display Imperial Archive record HSDO-7120." Another image appeared alongside the first and the similarity was unmistakable. The coloration of the skin might be different, but the two creatures shared the same distinctive horns and bat-like wings. "This is an image of the demons that the Empire encounter approximately two thousand years ago."

"They are the same!" Mars' fist clenched. "Those damn demons have been here before! That's how they knew where to attack!" Her eyes flashed with fury. "Speak, Pluto. The Empire has defeated them once, so it must be able to do so again. How was it done? And why has Mercury not told me of this."

"Because the records concerning the demonic incursion from two thousand years ago were sealed under the strictest of orders." Serenity glanced thoughtfully at Pluto, wondering how she had managed to slip past the finest security the Empire had without anyone noticing. How interesting…

"But… but why?" Mars stammered.

"Because the Empire did not repel the demons." Serenity smiled and turned to fix her cold gaze on Pluto. "Isn't that right, Pluto?"

"What?" Mars glanced between the two other women. "What do you mean?"

"The demons made the mistake of passing a little too close to Saturn. Even worse, they were foolish enough to attack it." Serenity chuckled softly. "And in doing so they awoke something… or shall I say, someone that they did not expect."

"Sailor Saturn…" Mars whispered, only just able to stop herself from making the sign against evil, although many others in the room did.

"Yes, Your Majesty, that is correct," Pluto said. "According to the records at the time, the demons lost roughly fifty percent of their forces in the span of fifteen minutes once Sailor Saturn awakened and chose to respond. Needless to say, our forces were equally quick to seize the initiative and were able to rout the demons in the confusion."

"Still, interesting as this little history lesson may be, I trust that you have something in mind, Pluto." Serenity raised one delicate brow, just a hint of annoyance on her otherwise perfect features, letting Pluto know just how imprudent it would be to waste her time. "I intend to leave my daughter with an Empire not a ruin."

"If we could somehow lure the demons toward Saturn…"

"Not possible." Mars snorted. "Those demons have been doing their best to avoid Saturn and every time we even retreat towards it they break off and don't give chase. I wondered why… but I guess it makes a twisted sort of sense. No, they won't be lured to Saturn, they'd sooner attack the Moon, by the looks of it."

"Still…." Serenity looked thoughtfully at the screens that were, moment by moment, tracking the annihilation of her Fleet and Infantry. "The idea of using Saturn to destroy the demons is not without merit… have you any other ideas about how to accomplish that, Pluto?"

"There is one other way. If the right person could be found, then perhaps she might be persuaded to aid us. There must be something that she wants."

"The right person?" Serenity tilted her head at Pluto and smiled. "The right person, you say? Yes… I like the sound of that. Who knows just how… amenable she might prove to be… provided that we could find just the right person for the task, of course." She glanced meaningfully at Pluto.

Pluto froze. In her mind she had already compiled a list of ten highly skilled negotiators, all of them experts in the field – and all of them expendable. Still, she should have anticipated Serenity's reaction. All of the senshi, even her, were expendable, if it meant protecting the Empire. Still, she managed to keep her expression neutral, hoping that perhaps Serenity was not thinking of sending her. "Your Majesty?"

A slow smile crossed the Queen's lips. "Of all my advisors, Pluto, you are the wisest. Your measured words and keen intellect have staved off more conflicts and resolved more problems than the rest of the senshi combined." The Queen caught the flash of anger on Mars' face before the raven-haired senshi composed herself. "Take an escort of as many ships as you see fit."

"An escort?" Pluto asked, still hoping for a reprieve. "Where shall I go?"

"I think you know well enough, Pluto." Serenity smiled coldly. "To Saturn. Whatever it takes, Pluto, secure her assistance."

"Your Majesty!" Mars broke in. She might dislike Pluto but she valued the woman as both a warrior and a tactician. To send her off on a fool's errand at a time like this…

"Be silent!" For the first time, Serenity raised her voice and Mars visibly recoiled as if she'd been struck. Serenity was careful to soften her tone before she continued. Mars was too valuable to needlessly offend. "Mars… understand that I would not do this if there were any other options."

"But still…"

"Pluto, if you fail you know what the consequences will be. At the current rate, how long do you think it will be before the Moon is overrun?" 

"Your Majesty," Mars interjected. "I assure you, I will not allow the Moon to fall."

Pluto glanced quickly at the screens that filled the room. "One week. At the most."

"One week? Perhaps you truly are more of an optimist than I gave you credit for." Serenity sighed. "I give it four days. So if you fail… then in four days every soul in this Empire will be lost and there will be no need to punish you, after all, you won't be long in joining us in the afterlife. But if you succeed… Pluto, do whatever it takes, offer her whatever she wants but we need Saturn to fight them and we need her to do it now." She glanced at the doors of the war room. "Now go, you have my express permission to take whatever resources you require."

"Then by your leave." Pluto turned and left the room, striding out the door with a member of the Lunar Guard on either side.

Serenity waited until Pluto was gone before she turned to Mars. The senshi of fire bristled with barely contained outrage and the Queen could barely suppress the smirk that threatened to appear on her lips. Mars might be a keen tactician and a great warrior, but in some ways she was utterly predictable.

"Mars." Mars nearly jumped when she felt Serenity's hand on her shoulder. It was one thing for the Queen to act so informally in private, quite another to do so in full view of everyone else in the war room. "Forgive me if I have shamed you."

"I… you… there is nothing to forgive."

Serenity took in the flush that stained Mars' cheeks and would have laughed. Predictable. "I have questioned your ability to defend the Moon in front of others," she began, before adding with no small amount of inward amusement, "In front of Pluto, no less."

"I…" Mars fumbled for the words. As Queen, Serenity was always so calm, so regal and almost always so aloof, and yet… when she chose to exercise her charisma, to speak less as a Queen and more as a friend, the effect was formidable.

"Prove me wrong, Mars." Serenity's voice was a silky whisper meant only for Mars' ears, and the senshi flushed even more. Serenity let a trace of a smile quirk her lips. She had Mars' complete attention now and she had managed to cool her temper as well. Mars would be altogether more effective this way. "Prove to me that you can hold this Empire together, Mars, that you can hold the Moon."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Mars felt a shiver run down her spine. She couldn't fail now, she thought as fresh resolve filled her. "I will not fail you!"

As Mars tromped down to the war room's main floor with a renewed sense of purpose, Serenity let her thoughts drift to Pluto. If only the crimson-eyed woman were so easily manipulated. Still, that was what made their little games so amusing. Oh it wasn't that she thought Pluto disloyal. She had meant every word earlier: Pluto truly was worth her weight in gold and the Empire could ill afford to lose her. Yet unlike the other senshi, Pluto regarded her with something other than blind adulation. Yes, if she had to put a word to it, she'd probably call it distaste.

Pluto was a puzzle, one that she took no small pleasure in trying to unravel. What thoughts did she hide behind those timeless eyes? Her mother had always told her to be wary of Pluto, but then her mother had been a timid woman. To rule, one needed to be strong and that meant challenging the things that worried you and crushing them underfoot. Not that she wanted to crush Pluto. That would be too boring and she did so enjoy the woman's skill in subtle wordplay and innuendo – insults and taunts hidden beneath a calm façade and courtly words. It had pleased her to no end to see Pluto's momentary loss of composure at her new mission – clearly she'd thought herself too important to be risked on what was essentially a suicide mission – a rare miscalculation on the senshi's part. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

And there was more to it than that. Mars might not think that Pluto would succeed, but Serenity knew better. She did not think that Saturn was the mindless monster everyone made her out to be. No. Saturn wanted something and it was simply a matter of finding out what. Who better than Pluto for that task? A small smile crossed her face. If only she could be there for the confrontation.

X X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off of this.

Well… talk about a change. I'm not sure how long it was between chapters seven and eight, but it was definitely longer than this. For this chapter, I thought a move back to the past would be a good idea. Little by little we're going to be finding out just what happened on Saturn all those years ago and why Pluto seems to know Saturn so well.

As always, get in touch. I appreciate your feedback.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

For the first time in a very, very long time, Pluto was afraid. Were the situation not so dire she'd have probably found it quite funny. But there was nothing the least bit humorous about the darkly graceful length of the Silence Glaive, nor was there anything humorous about the violet eyed woman who held the most powerful weapon in the Solar System with the perfect poise of someone long accustomed to its use.

"Saturn," Pluto murmured, scarcely able to believe her eyes. The other woman was wreathed in violet light, the radiance of her power throwing the formerly darkened interior of the chamber into sharp relief. Here at last, awakened and terrible in her strength stood the senshi who had levelled a world.

"You are Pluto." Saturn's voice was soft, yet it carried easily like the rumble of distant thunder across the plains.

The silence, which had faded, came to life again, hissing like static at the edges of Pluto's awareness, hungry, searching for weakness. "I am Pluto."

"How did you find me?"

Saturn's eyes flashed with some unreadable emotion. Loneliness, Pluto wondered, perhaps pain? But before she could be sure she'd even seen anything at all, Saturn's eyes were hard again, twin pools of purple adamant devoid of anything save for a dispassionate calm.

"I scanned the surface of the planet."

"Really?" Saturn's lips curved into a ghost of a smile, though her eyes remained hard. "You'd have found nothing. This is a dead world, it has been for a long, long time."

Pluto swallowed, throat suddenly dry. It had not escaped her notice that the Silence Glaive no longer rested idly by Saturn's side. Instead the other woman's grip on the weapon had shifted just enough to ease it forward into a position where it could easily be brought to bear. She would have to choose her words carefully. "You're right. When we first scanned the surface of the planet we didn't find anything."

"Then how did you find me?"

Was that curiosity in those ancient eyes? Pluto licked her lips. "But I searched the records for anything I could find about your powers. The records are… sketchy, at best, but they were consistent. The Silence that is the hallmark of your power isn't just an auditory phenomenon – it applies to all known forms of energy as well. So we scanned the planet again, this time at full scanning power."

"Go on." Saturn's grip on the Glaive eased a fraction.

Pluto nodded. "At full scanning power, even if there's nothing there, we should still have gotten a fair bit of reflection from the planet's surface. This was the only place where we got nothing, no reflection from the scan at all. It was, for want of a better description, completely silent."

"Clever." Again there was a flash of emotion in Saturn's eyes, amusement, maybe.

"Do you know why I am here?" Pluto asked. Faster than she could have believed possible, the Glaive whipped around and came to rest against her throat. Barely able to breathe now, let alone think, as the dull roar of the Silence filled her mind, she lifted one shaky hand to the Glaive.

"Don't." Saturn's gaze was pitiless, her mouth set into a stern line and Pluto froze, hand a hair's breadth from the Glaive's impossibly sharp edge. Crazily, Pluto wondered what Saturn would look like smiling. Would her lips curve up and her eyes sparkle, or would her smile be more of a grin, with a flash of teeth?

"The demons have returned," Pluto whispered, well aware that a single flick of Saturn's wrist could easily separate her head from her shoulders. "Already Neptune and Uranus lie in ruins and the rest of the Empire will not be far behind them."

"I know."

Somehow Pluto was not surprised. Death was part of Saturn's domain, and the deaths on Neptune and Uranus had numbered in the millions, possibly even in the billions. Even asleep, the other senshi would not have missed such a massive disturbance.

"Will you help us?"

"Help you?" Saturn laughed but her grip on the Glaive never wavered. Her laugh was a harsh sound, broken and utterly lacking in mirth. "Help you?" Emotion flickered in Saturn's eyes this time, raw fury, and for a moment Pluto was certain that she would die right then and there. And then the laughter died, replaced with an eerie silence. There was nothing in Saturn's gaze now not hate, not rage, not sorrow. There was only emptiness, and stillness, and cold. It was the blackness at the end of the universe, the lingering death of a thousand suns burned black with age. "The Empire can die for all I care." Saturn shifted the Glaive and Pluto was forced to tilt her chin up to avoid being cut. "And its emissaries along with it."

"Wait!" Pluto lifted her hands in a placating gesture. "Wait! There must be something I can offer you. Serenity has given me leave to offer you anything, anything at all. Surely there must be something you want?"

Saturn lifted the Glaive a fraction higher and Pluto winced as the weapon's edge cut ever so slightly into the tender skin of her throat. A thin rivulet of blood rolled down the weapon's edge, deep crimson against unearthly black. "And if your life is the price, Pluto? What then, will you still be so quick to offer anything?"

Slowly, Pluto lowered her chin so that she could meet Saturn's gaze. The Glaive cut deeper into her throat, so sharp that she scarcely felt a thing until the blood began to flow from the deepening wound, to drip in thick drops onto the floor. Still, she ignored the injury, the Glaive hadn't cut deeply enough yet to strike any major blood vessels. "If that is the price, then I am willing to pay it."

The muscles in Saturn's arm tensed but Pluto refused to look away. If Saturn wanted to kill her, she'd not give the other woman the satisfaction of seeing her fear. But then the Glaive was gone and Pluto stumbled forward. Immediately, her hands went to the small medical kit she carried at her waist and she bandaged the wound at her throat. When she looked up, Saturn was regarding her calmly, seeming to take her measure.

"You would really die for the Empire?" Saturn asked.

"Not for the Empire," Pluto corrected as she staggered to her feet. "For its people."

"There is one thing that I want," Saturn said and this time she did smile, and it was a sad smile full of old pain, still fresh despite the countless years.

"Name it."

"You."

"What?" Pluto flinched as if struck. Did Saturn truly intend to kill her?

Saturn chuckled again, the sound as empty as her earlier laugh. "Not your life, Pluto, though I could take that too if I wanted. No, there is something that only you can do."

"The Gates of Time…" Pluto murmured, horrified. What sort of damage might Saturn wreak if she was allowed to enter the Gates? "I will not-"

"You will," Saturn said. "Or the Empire will fall and all its people with it."

Pluto grit her teeth. Saturn was right. The Empire needed Saturn far more than Saturn needed it. She had no doubt at all that the other woman would simply let the Empire fall to the demons. "I will not let you use the Gates to travel either forward or backwards in time, Saturn."

"You are in no position to set any conditions, Pluto." Saturn stated simply. "But if it eases your mind at all, I've no desire to change the past or the future. What is done is done, for better or for worse. There is simply something that I wish to see."

"See?" The Gates could be used to scry through the past and even the future, if that was all that Saturn wanted… "What do you want to see?"

Saturn's mouth firmed into a thin line. "Only when we are the Gates themselves will I tell you, not a moment sooner."

Pluto nodded. "That seems acceptable… but what guarantee do I have that you won't simply turn on the Empire once you've dealt with the demons?"

"You have none." Saturn's reply was delivered swiftly. "No guaranteed whatsoever that I won't turn on your precious Empire and be a thousand times worse than those demons ever could be."

"Then why should I take you back with me?"

"You take me back with you?" Saturn grinned darkly. "I'm awake now, Pluto. It's no longer up to you whether I stay or I go. Still…" Saturn paused, thoughtful. "I won't turn on your Empire, Pluto, not unless they turn on me first."

Pluto breathed a sigh of relief. "I am grateful for you assurances, but why, why would you spare the Empire?"

"The Empire will fall, Pluto. The only thing that matters is how. If I were to smash the Empire to dust, to shatter the Gates and wreak death and ruin across the Solar System it would matter little. Somehow, somewhere, someone would survive. The line of Serenity is nothing if not tenacious. And then they would rebuild and the Empire would rise again. No, it is better to let it to be, so that when the Empire falls it will be at its own hand. Only then will the Empire truly fall, only then will it die as it should have died all those years ago." Saturn seemed alive for the first time as she spoke, her whole body trembling with energy, the violet flame that coursed along her slender frame leaping in response to her agitation. Even the Silence Glaive seemed excited, the echoing thunder of its presence nearly deafening as it thrummed with power.

Speechless, Pluto could only look at Saturn in abject horror. She wanted to tell the violet eyed woman that she wrong, that the Empire would stand forever, but the words would not come, for somewhere deep in her heart, the words rang true. She had always used the Gates of Time to try and steer the Empire clear of trouble, but even the sight granted by the Gates was not perfect. There were things they did not show, or rather things they did not allow her to see. The demons were a perfect example of that. She'd received little warning from her scryings at the Gates, only vague images of ruin and despair.

Saturn was the senshi of death and rebirth. It was she who wielded the power to destroy, to smash planets and crack galaxies. Yet was such destruction always pointless, might it not also serve a purpose? Was destruction needed? Was it necessary to sweep aside the old for the birth of the new? Shaken, Pluto forced herself to focus. She had managed to secure Saturn's cooperation, or at least she thought she had. Right now that was what mattered. She could ponder Saturn's words later. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Saturn, what had filled her with such visceral hatred of the Empire.

"We need to get back to the surface," Pluto said at last. "I have a transport waiting for us at the top of the valley."

"I see." Saturn's eyes narrowed. "Come here."

"What?"

"The path you took to enter here is most likely closed. This place was designed to keep things in, not let them out. Even you may find it difficult to escape."

Pluto frowned. "Then how are we going to get out?"

"Have you forgotten," and now there was a ghost of a smile, pained and lonely on Saturn's face. "What I am?"

And then Saturn raised the Glaive and the silence that filled the chamber was terrifying in its totality. Pluto jammed her hands over her ears and fell to her knees as her mind shut down, overwhelmed by the raw power that rolled off Saturn. A second later and it was over. Shaking her head, Pluto looked up and gasped. The twisted Saturnian night lay above them, a jagged fabric of different colours awash with stars.

"Now," Saturn asked nonchalantly, as though obliterating several miles of rock in the span of a heartbeat was nothing at all. "Lead me to your transport."

X X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off of this.

Let me begin by apologising for the delay and thanking all of the readers who continue to read this story. Your support is very much appreciated. For those wondering about the delay, it's been due to a combination of things. For the most part it's largely due to how much busier life has gotten. However, matters weren't helped when my computer's hard drive decided to up and die on me. Fortunately, the awesome tech support guys were able to salvage the files I had on it, but losing that hard drive definitely set me back.

For this chapter, I've decided to once again go to the past. If you're curious about what's going to happen given the rather awkward situation I left Hotaru in during the present, don't worry because I will get to that.

As always, get in touch. I appreciate your feedback.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

For a long time after she awakened, Hotaru did not move. Instead, she lay on her bed, still and silent, and filled with regret. Her fists clenched tightly as she remembered everything she'd done and she had to fight back tears because if she cried then her parents would come and she didn't know if she could face them yet.

She needed to be calm and for a moment, she was tempted to embrace the emptiness, the vast and terrible silence that lingered just beneath her skin, but she shoved the thought aside. That silence, that emptiness, it wasn't her. It couldn't be her. Slowly, her breathing evened out and she forced herself to think of what she would do next.

Clearly, she couldn't stay in bed forever. Eventually, she'd have to face the others, even if she didn't know quite what she was going to say or if they'd even really forgive her. And could she blame them if they didn't? It took a big heart to forgive someone after they'd done they're best to kill you. Despite herself, she laughed quietly, and if there was a slightly hysterical edge to it, she chose to ignore it.

Unbidden, her stomach grumbled and she remembered just how long it had been since she had eaten something. She could go down for food now. It was the middle of the night and everyone else was probably asleep. Besides, there was something so _normal_ about creeping downstairs for a midnight snack.

As quietly as she could, she crept out of her room. She paused for a second and listened. The house was silent save for the familiar, semi-somnolent whispers that she'd come to know over the years. She made her way toward the kitchen and then froze. Setsuna was at the dining table, her head pillowed on her arms. The smell of alcohol was unmistakable and as Hotaru stopped and stared – Setsuna never got drunk – the older woman shifted in her sleep and turned slightly towards her.

Hotaru swallowed thickly. The tracks of only recently dried tears were clear despite the dim lighting. Setsuna had been up almost the whole night and she'd probably spent most of it crying. Unable to help herself now, Hotaru walked over to the sleeping woman and wrapped her arms around her.

"Huh." Setsuna started awake violently and lashed out, but Hotaru shifted with a grace she didn't know she had and the blow went wide. "Let go of me!"

"Shhh." Hotaru tightened her embrace. "Just… shhh…"

Setsuna froze and turned her head. Crimson met violet and held for what felt like forever. "Hotaru?" she whispered softly. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry." Hotaru eyes burned and she willed herself not to cry. She'd cried enough. "I'm really, really sorry." She looked at Setsuna for some sign of acknowledgement but the older woman's gaze was suddenly inscrutable, her emotions hidden behind a veil that Hotaru had never really been able to breach but now so desperately wanted to. "I…"

And then Hotaru couldn't speak because Setsuna had buried her face in her neck and was weeping softly. The purple haired girl trembled. What was she supposed to do? Setsuna wasn't supposed to cry – she never cried. Slowly, hesitantly, Hotaru brought one hand up and began to run her fingers through Setsuna's hair.

"It's okay," she whispered. "It's okay."

Setsuna chuckled brokenly and Hotaru shivered. "No, Hotaru, it's not." Setsuna pulled away but made no move to wipe away her tears. "You're starting to remember and I'm afraid that once you do, nothing will ever be the same again."

"Why?" Hotaru asked. "What am I going to remember that's so bad?"

"Do you really want to know?" Setsuna's voice was almost devoid of emotion.

Hotaru paused for a long moment and then nodded firmly. "I need to know. I… I can't have what happened before happen again." She shivered. "But I'm scared. I remember what I did to Haruka-papa and… and…" She trailed off and looked away, utterly ashamed.

"If you want to know then you're going to have to ask her." Setsuna didn't need to say who 'her' was. They both knew. Saturn.

"But what if she takes over again? What if this time I can't stop and I don't just hurt one of you what if I… kill one of you?" Just saying the words made Hotaru want to retch.

Setsuna smiled sadly. "If you've started remembering then there really isn't any going back. One way or another, you're going to have to face her because whether you like it or not, the two of you are simply different facets of the same being. The two of you are one."

"Could you, maybe, talk to me first?" Hotaru asked. "I mean you knew her, right? Maybe you could tell me a bit about her and then maybe I wouldn't be so afraid." The last few words were little more than a whisper.

"She didn't talk about her past much." Setsuna seemed to be looking at her, but Hotaru couldn't help but wonder if it was Saturn she saw. "But what she did mention wasn't pleasant. I don't think she ever wanted anyone else to know just what had made her who she was."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Hotaru pleaded.

Setsuna sighed. "Can we move to the living room?"

Hotaru nodded. It didn't escape her notice that Setsuna chose to sprawl across one of the couches, her eyes on the ceiling and her face hidden in shadow.

"I remember the first time I met her," Setsuna began and she laughed softly. "You have to realise that just like everyone else, I'd been raised on stories of her cruel and merciless nature. She wasn't… wasn't kind or gentle… but she wasn't cruel or merciless either. I think," and here Setsuna's voice turned wistful. "I think I anything she was very, very sad."

X X X

"What are you going to tell your crew?"

The words caught Pluto off guard and she was thankful that the small transport they were on was currently on autopilot. She turned and looked at Saturn carefully. The other woman's voice seemed to hold a faint hint of genuine curiosity, although her expression gave little away. "What would you like me to tell them?"

Saturn shifted in her seat and Pluto could have sworn that for just a moment the hum of the engines died down and they were travelling in utter silence. "That wasn't what I asked, Pluto."

Pluto turned away, wondering if it would be wise to tell Saturn just how the citizens of the Empire viewed her. Still, the frankness of Saturn's question was telling. She seemed to know that everyone feared her, which meant that lying to her would not only be pointless, but probably offensive, as well. "They're going to be scared of you. To them you're nothing less than the harbinger of the apocalypse."

"So that much remains the same," Saturn murmured softly before she raised her voice a fraction. "But you, Pluto, are you scared of me?"

Pluto frowned. Was she scared of Saturn? It would be completely logical if she were. The other woman could level planets with her power and had actually done so at least once. But Saturn didn't seem like the ravening engine of destruction that all the stories had made her out to be. No, Pluto thought as she looked at Saturn out of the corner of her eye, if anything she actually seemed a little lonely.

"No," Pluto said quietly. "I don't think I'm scared of you. I should be, but I'm not."

"You're honest," Saturn said softly. "Unlike your predecessor."

Pluto's brows furrowed. She'd almost forgotten just how old Saturn really was. "The crew might be scared of you, but they understand that we need you. Can I trust you not to do anything to them?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Pluto wished she could take them back. Something that might have been hurt flashed in Saturn's impenetrable purple eyes but before Pluto could be sure of what she'd seen, the emotion was gone, replaced by cold steel. "I am not a monster."

"I'm sorry." Pluto ran one hand through her hair and sighed. "I didn't mean for the words to come out that way. I just…"

Saturn's eyes drifted shut and for a moment she seemed lost in memory. "You just want them to be safe."

"Yes," Pluto said. "That's all."

"So long as they keep their distance, Pluto, you crew has nothing to fear from me."

Pluto nodded gratefully as she took over the autopilot to guide them into the docking bay of her command ship. "Thank you. I mean it."

Saturn said nothing, but her eyes seemed to lose a little of their hardness.

A few minutes later, the doors of the transport opened and Pluto stepped out into the docking bay. There were several members of the crew there eager to know how things had gone after they'd lost contact with her, along with the usual crowd of engineers and maintenance workers. She stopped their questions with two words.

"She's here."

And just like that, Saturn stepped out of the transport. Instantly all activity in the docking bay stopped and an awed and terrified hush descended. Several people even dropped to their knees in supplication, as though afraid that Saturn would strike them down where they stood. If the stares and silence bothered Saturn, she gave no sign. Instead her gaze swept over everything with an almost frightening intensity as though she were cataloguing each and every single object in the docking bay. Pluto couldn't help but wonder what sort of upbringing could give rise to such behaviour.

"Where are my quarters?" Saturn asked.

No one said a word and Pluto saw an engineer make the sign against evil. Saturn must have seen it too, for her eyes narrowed a fraction and the silence that enveloped the docking bay began to hold a hint of the unnatural. Pluto shot the engineer a glare and cursed inwardly. She needed to get Saturn out of the docking bay before anyone did anything else to offend her, or worse, said something stupid.

"Lieutenant," Pluto said loudly, her gaze snapping to one of her officers. "Have the quarters next to mine prepared for Lady Saturn." She paused and looked sternly around the docking bay. "The rest of you, get back to work. We leave for the Moon immediately."

As activity resumed in the docking bay, Pluto turned back to Saturn. "My apologies if they offended you."

Saturn met her gaze evenly. "At least they didn't throw any stones."

Pluto paused. Was that a joke? No, Saturn's voice had been too calm and her eyes had held that look again, almost as if she were remembering something she'd prefer to forget. She swallowed nervously and then spoke. "Did they really throw stones?"

"Only sometimes," Saturn said. "Now where are my quarters? I would like to be alone."

After Pluto took Saturn to her quarters, it was several hours before she saw her again. In the end, it was the angry klaxon of alarms that drew the dark-haired senshi from her solitude.

"What are those alarms?" Saturn asked, following Pluto toward the command deck of the ship.

"I'm not sure yet, but we've most likely been spotted by the enemy." Pluto was careful to keep her expression neutral despite the surge of worry she felt inside. The demons were growing more confident if they were willing to stage raids this close to the inner planets.

"Are your ships capable of fighting?" Saturn's gaze was devoid of emotion.

Pluto shook her head. "Most of my ships are reconnaissance craft. I thought it best not to bring a fleet of heavily armed ships to your planet."

Saturn's lips tightened. "You know your history well. I destroyed the last fleet that tried to threaten me."

Pluto nodded curtly. They were now on the command deck and she let her eyes move quickly over the large display at the centre of the area. "What have our sensors detected?"

The reply came swiftly. "We've got multiple enemy contacts. The demons have spotted us and are closing fast."

"Can we outrun them?" Pluto asked.

"We're already going at maximum speed. If they continue to close at the current rate, I estimate that they will be within attack range in roughly ten minutes." A shiver seemed to run through the officer as he spoke.

"Are there any Imperial ships nearby? What of the Jovian Fleet?" One of the other officers asked. "We could call for help."

"No." Pluto shook her head. Not only was the Jovian Fleet probably little more than space debris by now, but the odds of any ships being close enough to help them before the demons reached them were practically nil. She bit her lip gently. They could turn and fight, but they would lose unless she herself entered the fray and if there were any more demonic ships en-route she could easily find herself overwhelmed. She could of course retreat to the Gates of Time with Saturn and herself, but that would mean abandoning the rest of her forces and that was something she refused to do. Another option would be to order some of her ships to stand and fight, buying the others sufficient time to escape. It was the logical thing to do, but her gut clenched at the thought of sacrificing so many of her own.

Suddenly she felt Saturn's hand on her shoulder. She flinched but Saturn held her still and Pluto was struck by how oddly reassuring the gesture was for Saturn's hold on her was firm, yet gentle.

"Tell your ships to stop." Saturn's eyes glittered dangerously.

"What?" Pluto stuttered.

" If all of your ships stop, then the demons will come and then they will all die."

"What are you planning?"

Saturn tilted her head to one side. "I thought it would be obvious." Her eyes drifted to the display, which showed the rapidly approaching demonic ships and her expression was at once mournful and hungry. "I'm going to kill them all."

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this piece of fiction.

First of all, I make no excuses about my long absence. Real life has been making it difficult for me to work on any fanfiction and I've managed to misplace some of my fanfiction files, although I'm still hopeful of finding them (this is what I get for splitting work between a desktop and a laptop… grargh).

In any case, I thought that it was about time to resolve the situation between Hotaru and Setsuna (at least partially) and I wanted to go into their first meeting in more detail. For Pluto, it's not going to be easy moving past everything she's been told about Saturn. She might be very intelligent, but Saturn is the Lunar Empire's equivalent of the boogieman. As for Saturn, well, it looks like she'll actually have to deal with other people for the time being, and by that I mean, in a way that doesn't involve annihilating them.

As always, get in touch. I welcome your reviews and comments.

Oh, and another thing, I do want to finish this fic. I know the pain of having people not finish things that I want to read, and I don't want to do that to others. That said, I can't promise to update every day or anything crazy like that. However I will do my best to get an update out each week.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Haruka padded down the stairs and toward the kitchen. Along the way she let out a sigh. It wasn't just her body that hurt, her pride had taken a beating too. After all, it wasn't everyday that your daughter beat you up, even if she did happen to be the vessel for the single most dangerous entity in the solar system.

"Still," she muttered. "I've got to get Hotaru to show me some of those moves." She shook her head. On second thoughts, sparring probably wasn't such a good idea, at least until they managed to sort this whole mess out. A dark looked crossed her face. It really was a mess and now that she'd had a night of painful half-sleep under her belt – a night in which her bruises made it hard to enjoy Michiru's loving attentions – her sympathy for Setsuna was at an all time low. One way or another the crimson-eyed woman was going to tell them everything.

However there'd be plenty of time for that later. Right now she was tired and sore and she wanted a glass of juice. Maybe she'd be able to have a fridge put in upstairs although Michiru probably wouldn't think too much of that. She was almost to the kitchen when she heard some light snoring from the living room. Strange, she thought. Maybe Setsuna had decided to crash there last night after drinking herself stupid.

She crept over to the living room and grinned. She could see Setsuna sprawled over one of the couches, one arm flung over her face. This was her chance. The other woman was probably going to wake up with an enormous hang over and Haruka felt absolutely no need to go easy on her. Yes, she thought nodding. It was a simple matter of payback. She was halfway across the room before she noticed that Setsuna wasn't the only one sleeping in the living room. Hotaru was there too.

Haruka stopped where she was. It might be fun to wake Setsuna up when she was hung over, but that would probably wake Hotaru up too and she needed all the rest she could get. Damn, she'd have to content herself with talking really loudly at breakfast or something similarly petty.

"They make quite a sight don't they?"

Haruka turned to find Michiru standing in the doorway, a gentle smile on her face. Then her gaze slipped from the aqua-haired woman's face to the robe she had on. Haruka grinned. The robe wasn't closed quite tightly enough to cover all of her beloved's cleavage.

"Pervert," Michiru said, still smiling, although her eyes were dancing with mirth now. Her gaze flicked back to Setsuna and Hotaru. "But they make quite a sight don't they. Do you think they made up?"

Haruka shrugged and eyed Michiru's chest a moment longer before shifting her gaze up. "Probably, otherwise Setsuna wouldn't be lying there in one piece."

"Haruka, don't say that." Michiru's glare was accompanied by a faint quirk of her lips. "It would be horrible if something happened to Setsuna."

"Yeah, yeah, you know I'm only kidding." Haruka tossed a glance at Setsuna and crossed her hands over her chest. "I'm still angry that she didn't at least warn us that something like this might happen. Saturn nearly took my head off at least twice yesterday and you saw how Hotaru was afterward."

Michiru nodded. "I don't like that she hid things from us either, Haruka, but getting angry isn't going to help and pulling a prank on her is only going to make things worse." Haruka did her best to look innocent but Michiru would have none of it. "Yes, Haruka, I know you and while I love you, sometimes you can be just as bad as Usagi and Minako."

Haruka pouted. "Spoiled sport."

"Don't be like that." Michiru laughed. "I'm going to make breakfast. We can talk with Setsuna and Hotaru after that."

"Breakfast?" The thought of food was definitely welcome and Haruka bounded after Michiru. "Can I help?"

"No." Michiru gently pushed Haruka away from the kitchen. "There are still scorch marks on the walls from when you last tried to cook."

"Then I can supervise!" Haruka grinned.

"Supervise? Your idea of supervision involves invading my personal space."

Haruka's eyes twinkled. "You know you like it."

X X X

It was only centuries of practice and a naturally stoic disposition that prevented Setsuna from reaching across the table and strangling Haruka. The blonde was talking even louder than usual and Setsuna didn't doubt for a moment that it was because the other woman knew that she was hung over. Haruka had also opened every single window to let the bright morning light in.

A quick look at Michiru suggested that she knew exactly what Haruka was up but was in no mood to interfere. Clearly the two other senshi were still displeased with her about the recent events. Not that she could blame them. Her gaze then drifted to the other occupant of the dining room. Hotaru was focusing on the pancakes with almost uncanny intensity, refusing to look up at anyone and generally acting as though her food was the centre of the universe. Setsuna wondered if she even tasted any of it, or if it was just a way to avoid having to deal with the inevitable apologies and recriminations.

Finally they ran out of pancakes and Setsuna waited calmly for one of the others to make the first move.

"Um… shouldn't I be at school today?" Hotaru asked.

Both Haruka and Michiru flinched at the very obvious attempt to keep things restricted to trivial topics and Setsuna remained silent. Right now, her hot chocolate looked very interesting.

"We thought it might be best if you stayed at home today, Hotaru." Michiru smiled. "We do have a few things to talk about."

"Oh."

Silence.

Setsuna lifted her eyes from her hot chocolate and watched the others again. Hotaru was still doing her level best to avoid meeting anyone else's eyes and now that she'd run out of pancakes she was studying the tablecloth intently. Haruka, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to either scream, hit something, or both. Setsuna almost smiled. Most likely the blonde was imaging screaming at and hitting her.

"May I be excused?" Hotaru asked softly.

Haruka's hands, which had so far been placed flat on the newspaper, clenched and the newspaper tore loudly. Had the situation not been so serious, Setsuna would have found the whole thing hilarious. As it was, she could only continue to maintain a stony silence.

"Not just yet, Hotaru," Haruka said with clearly false cheer.

"Oh."

Silence.

"About yesterday –"

"I'm sorry about –"

Hotaru closed her mouth and Haruka spoke. "Okay, why don't you go first."

Hotaru nodded slowly. "I'm really sorry about yesterday."

Haruka nodded crisply. "Apology accepted."

"Huh?" Hotaru gaped. "I… I tried to kill you Haruka-papa and you're just going to forgive me? Just like that?"

Haruka nodded sagely. "Yes."

Hotaru fell silent again and Setsuna closed her eyes as her lips curved into the faintest of smile. She shouldn't have worried about how Haruka would deal with this. Haruka loved Hotaru and to the straightforward blonde things probably were really this simple.

"But… but why?"

Haruka grinned. "Would you rather I didn't forgive you?"

Hotaru gaped again.

"Besides, I know it wasn't your fault. If anything, I'm blaming little miss secret-keeper over there." Haruka shot Setsuna a vicious look. Setsuna returned the look calmly. "So you're forgiven."

"But don't you want to hit me back or something?" Hotaru asked.

Haruka smiled. "You really don't get it, do you, Hotaru? You're my daughter and that means I love you and I forgive you. But if you really want me to hit you…" Haruka stood and stalked over to Hotaru. "I guess I'll have to oblige."

"Haruka…" Michiru whispered.

Setsuna tensed. If Haruka really was stupid enough to try and hit Hotaru, she might trigger Saturn again and if that happened she'd probably be dead inside of ten seconds, what with the large number of pointy pieces of metal on the dining room table. Although, she doubted that Haruka was actually going to do something like that, not with the gleam in her eye.

"It hurts to have to do this, Hotaru." Haruka drew herself up to her full height. "Take this." And before anyone could move Haruka pulled Hotaru into a headlock and began to noogie her.

For a moment the only sounds in the dining room were Hotaru's cries as she tried to get away and Haruka laughter as she continued to noogie mercilessly and then first Michiru and then Setsuna began to laugh.

Setsuna laughed, regardless of how much it hurt her head. She laughed until she had to struggle just to breathe and it was only a supreme effort of will that let her rein her mirth in. Finally, Haruka pulled away and the atmosphere settled somewhat, although it was much lighter than before.

"Now we're even," Haruka said. "But if you ever attack me like that again, Hotaru, you'll get it twice as bad."

Hotaru nodded, lip shaking. "Okay, Haruka-papa."

Haruka grinned. "Just remember, whatever's going on with you, we're with you, all of us. We love you and we'll take care of you, no matter who or what the threat is, even if it is Saturn."

Hotaru said nothing but her smile was all the answer they needed.

Setsuna thought that now would be a good time to broach the issue more seriously. "We should consider our next move now." She took a sip of her hot chocolate and used the time to gather her thoughts. "I think we should restrict Hotaru from her duties as a senshi until she's had time to deal with this situation."

"What?" Hotaru squeaked.

Haruka frowned but steadied as Michiru laid one hand on her arm. "Explain."

Setsuna sighed. "I think that fighting is what's triggering Saturn's memories." She looked at Hotaru. "Would you agree?"

"I think so. I mean, I'd had a few dreams, but each time she took over it was while I was fighting." Hotaru lowered her gaze. "Maybe if I don't fight she won't come back."

Michiru folded her hands together. "Is it really alright to do this, though? Eventually, she'll have to face Saturn, won't she?"

"Most likely," Setsuna admitted. "But it would probably be safer if she wasn't on the battlefield when she did it."

Haruka looked disgusted but nodded. "I can see your point, but these new things we've been fighting are tough. We didn't exactly do well the last time we faced one of them, now did we?"

A little gloom fell over the table as they remembered how hard fighting the monster in the park had been until Saturn had made her presence known in the bloodiest way possible.

"We can manage," Setsuna said firmly. "We have to."

Haruka and Michiru nodded. "I guess so," Haruka said. She reached over and ruffled Hotaru's hair. "Looks like you're on leave until we get this whole thing sorted out."

Hotaru nodded.

"So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Haruka asked, grinning broadly.

Setsuna hid her smirk behind her mug. Wasn't Hotaru supposed to be resting?

"How about a movie?" Michiru suggested. "It could take our minds off everything."

Haruka nodded. "Not a bad idea… but I get to pick the movie."

That got groans from everyone at the table.

X X X

Shinjiro sighed and continued to study the clouds. Really, it was quite comfortable up on the school's roof, what with the cool breeze and all. Some days he just wished he could stay up here forever, but he did have to keep up appearances. A loud creak filled the air and he shifted to look at the now open door to the roof.

"Why am I not surprised to see you lazing off up here?"

He chuckled and flashed the speaker a grin. She was about his age, with a slim, athletic figure. Her eyes were a deep blue and her mahogany hair fell in loose waves to the small of her back. He grinned. She really did look good in a school uniform. "Why, Sayuri, you look utterly ravishing."

Sayuri's face contorted into snarl and had he not rolled out of the way in time, his head would have been nothing more than a smear on the roof. "Stop being stupid. Where is she?"

"Well, she wasn't in class today." He backed up to a safer distance and then sighed theatrically. "Perhaps we pushed her too hard yesterday."

"Even so," Sayuria said, "We can't afford to waste too much time."

"Yes, yes, yes. Horrible doom for all of us and all that."

"How can you take this so lightly?" she spat.

He shrugged. "Getting angry won't help. Our plan is working, we just need to keep pushing."

"Why not attack her directly? We do know where she lives." Sayuri tapped one foot on the ground impatiently.

He grimaced. "We can't push her too hard, or have you forgotten what happened the last time someone forced Saturn out?"

A dark looked passed across her pretty face. "Of course not. There's no way I could forget that." She tugged at her uniform. "I just hate being here and having to wear this stupid uniform and having to go to this stupid school."

"A young lady shouldn't speak so uncouthly." Shinjiro dodged a petite fist. "But this is the best way to keep an eye on her. She can't take more than a few days off school and I've already made myself known. I might even be able to become her friend and that'll definitely come in handy later." He shot her a grin. "Somehow you're not in her class, so until I fix that up, you could try and join some of the clubs she's a part of." He grinned. "Why not join the swim team?"

Her eyes narrowed. "She isn't on the swim team."

He only continued to grin and just for extra effect he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Her eyes widened in shock before she lashed out again. "Your pervert."

He was still grinning as she stalked away. What a wonderfully murderous look she'd shot him. But damn, he thought as he rubbed his jaw, even in her human form she hit hard.

X X X

Setsuna sighed softly as they left the cinema. Somehow Haruka had managed to convince them that an action movie was an appropriate way of taking their minds off their problems. Needless to say, things hadn't gone exactly to plan. It hadn't helped either that one of the movie's characters had something of a penchant for blades.

"That wasn't too bad was it?" Haruka asked. Setsuna said nothing, choosing instead to level a faintly disapproving frown at the blonde. "Oh come on," Haruka insisted. "You just need to lighten up a little."

"Well there certainly were a lot of explosions," Michiru said. Setsuna chuckled inwardly. Michiru didn't actually dislike action movies. She simply preferred films with more emotional involvement.

"Say, Hotaru, what did you think of the movie?" Haruka asked.

"It was okay." Setsuna studied Hotaru closely. The girl hadn't said a word during the movie. Instead, she'd watched it with almost frightening intensity, almost as though she were breaking down each of the action sequences in her mind. "The action was a bit off though."

"Oh?" Haruka frowned. "I thought it was okay. What was wrong with it?"

Hotarua hesitated for a moment. "I just thought that the way they were fighting was a little unrealistic." A lock of hair fell in front of her face, but she made no move to push it aside. "It's just that they were fighting so extravagantly. It would have been much easier to win the fight if they'd just been more efficient."

"I… see." Haruka's smile was awkward. "Well, it was a movie, so I suppose looking cool is more important than being realistic."

"How would you have done things?" Setsuna asked. The others looked at her in surprise, but she gave Hotaru a reassuring smile. However as the younger woman explained just how she would have done things differently, it became harder and harder to keep the smile up.

To the best of her knowledge, Hotaru had no training in combat strategy or tactics outside of what she'd picked up from her and the other senshi. However what Hotaru had just said spoke of a level of insight that she simply shouldn't have. In fact, she'd even mentioned several things that Setsuna hadn't thought of while watching the film. On the other hand, Saturn had been very well trained in the arts of war.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the beep of her communicator. Pulling the device out, she gestured for the others to lower their voices.

"Pluto here."

"This is Venus." The other senshi's words were nearly drowned out by the deep boom of an explosion. "I've got some trouble here. Can you guys give me a hand?"

Setsuna looked carefully at the others. They nodded. "Of course." She paused in thought. "Where are the other Inners?"

Venus cursed wildly and Setsuna heard another explosion, louder this time, or closer. "I was on my way back from this manga store I know when I ran into trouble. I called the others, but apparently they've got some trouble of their own to deal with." Another explosion, this time followed by a wince and some more cursing. "Look, just hurry up, okay?"

"We'll be there in a few minutes." Setsuna deactivated the communicator and turned to the others. "Shall we?"

Haruka and Michiru nodded and the three of them immediately began looking for a place to transform. Hotaru made as though to follow them, but Setsuna stopped her.

"Hotaru, we talked about this. Until you've had a chance to sort things out, you're off patrol." Setsuna put one hand on Hotaru's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Do you think you can take the train home?"

Hotaru nodded slowly. "I guess I can do that." She caught Setsuna's hand. "Just be careful, okay? And… and if things really get bad, call me. I don't want any of you to get hurt."

Setsuna inclined her head. "Have trust in us, Hotaru."

X X X

Pluto landed easily on the rooftop overlooking the train station. It didn't take her long to spot the creature or Venus. The creature was a fairly unpleasant looking thing, fifteen feet of jagged rock in a vaguely humanoid shape. Like the creatures they'd encountered earlier, its hands and feet ended in claws and it moved with a speed and grace that belied its large, hulking frame. A deep orange glow spilled out from several large cracks in its exterior, reminding her oddly of lava, and she made a mental note to be careful.

"What are we waiting for?" Uranus shouted. "Let's get in there!"

Neptune flashed her a semi-apologetic smile as she lifted her hands and flung a sphere of water before following her partner toward the creature. Pluto suppressed a wry smile. She shouldn't have expected anything less from Uranus. The blonde loved a good fight and she already had the Space Sword drawn.

The sphere of water caught the creature in the back and drove it into one of the pillars that supported the roof of the train station. Thankfully, the station was above ground so they wouldn't have to worry about the whole thing collapsing, but Pluto couldn't help but mentally tally the cost of repairs. Uranus struck while the creature was still finding its feet. Sparks flew as the Space Sword cut into the dense rock across the creature's back.

"Damn this thing is tough," Uranus growled, transferring the Space Sword quickly to her left hand as she gingerly rolled her right wrist. The sword had managed to cut into the creature, but not before the jolt of impact had jarred her wrist.

"Well, it's nice of you two to show up," Venus remarked. The younger woman's uniform was torn in several places and she had a number of nasty looking bruises. "Where are Saturn and Pluto?"

Uranus grimaced. "Uh… we thought it was probably best to give Saturn some time off after… you know." She brightened. "But Pluto is here, she's probably just looking for the best time to strike and make a dramatic entrance."

"Heh." Venus chuckled. "That's so like her. Now come on, this thing blew up my manga so I need to get revenge."

With that the two blondes charged the creature together. It met them head on, one claw shooting toward Venus. She dodged and the claw went wide, kicking up a plume of dust as it struck the platform of the train station. Uranus seized the chance and brought the Space Sword down on the creature's arm.

There was a crunch and the blade bit into the creature's arm, but ground to a halt after several inches. Stunned, Uranus rather inelegantly put one foot on the creature's arm and kicked in an attempt to pull her weapon free. Part of her was aware of how ridiculous she must look, but she paid it no mind.

"Uranus, duck!" Neptune cried.

Uranus looked up and blinked before throwing herself to the ground. The creature's other claw swept through the air where's she been only a moment ago. As the creature brought its arm around for another attack, a jet of water struck it, sending it sprawling into another pillar. Uranus was up on her feet in an instant, a World Shaking already forming her hands.

"Uh… guys," Venus murmured. "Maybe we should watch out for the pillars."

Her words were a fraction too late, however, as Uranus let loose her attack. The creature dodged with uncanny speed and the attack instead obliterated another column. Above them, the roof began to creak ominously.

"Oops," was all Uranus could think to say as the three of them leapt aside. The roof of the train station teetered for a moment and then toppled to the ground. Dust billowed outward and the piercing shriek of mangled metal filled the air. "Uh… maybe we killed it."

Neptune sighed. "We should be so lucky and even if it is dead, what do you think Pluto is going to do to us after this?"

All three senshi shivered. Over the years, the senshi's powers had grown considerably. They were always careful not to harm any civilians but the same couldn't be said for the surrounding environment. Pluto, of course, was never pleased when they damaged their surroundings and every one of them had been on the receiving end of one of her lectures. Destroying a train station, however, was not something any of them had accomplished until today.

"It was her fault!" Venus said, pointing at Uranus.

"Never mind that," Neptune said as the rubble scattered over the ruined train station began to stir. "I don't think it's dead."

An instant later, a piece of metal several yards long – a piece of one of the pillars – shot through the air and imbedded itself in the wall beside Neptune's head. The senshi stared for a moment and then broke into motion as the creature stepped fully out of the rubble. The rock covering most of its body was gone, exposing a seething mass of lava. With a roar, it drew its head back and then spat a glob of molten rock.

The projectile struck the building Venus was on and immediately began to melt through cement and metal. The blonde senshi scrambled for steadier ground as the pool of lava spread and enveloped the entire roof. A hiss escaped her as she felt the skin on her leg begin to blister from the heat that the pool of lava radiated.

"Neptune!" Venus shouted. "You're the water person, hit it!"

Neptune needed no further urging. She took a moment to steady herself and then gestured violently with both hands. A torrent of water streamed through the air and struck the creature. Steam rippled outward, nearly blinding all of them, as she pressed the attack. Suddenly there was a surge of heat and she flung herself to the side just in time to dodge a ball of lava.

"Pluto!" Uranus cried, darting over to grab Neptune and pull her out of harm's way. "What are you waiting for?"

"Dead Scream."

An orb of crimson energy cannoned into the creature's head. The blow knocked the creature's aim off and rather than firing another ball of lava at Neptune and Uranus it melted a patch of the platform instead.

"We need more water," Pluto said. "How much more can you summon, Neptune?"

The blue-haired woman winced. "That was about as much as I can call."

"I see." Pluto took a moment to assess the situation. "In that case, I want you to distract it Uranus. Lure it onto the street. Neptune, stay back until I give you a signal."

"What about me?" Venus asked.

"You're with Uranus."

"Pluto," Neptune asked. "Why are we luring it onto the street?"

Pluto's eyes glittered. "Don't worry about it. Just remember, don't do anything till I give you the signal."

As Venus and Uranus ran forward to engage the creature, Pluto directed Neptune to one of the rooftops overlooking a now deserted intersection. Pluto herself studied the area intently before finally nodding in satisfaction.

"Bring it over here!" she shouted.

Venus and Uranus needed no further urging to turn and run. The creature was deadly fast and its claws made for a difficult opponent at close range, but the lava it spat made fighting it at range a tricky proposition, as well. It followed them, stomping through the ruins of the station and leaving a trail of melted concrete in its wake. Then they were out on the street and it was only a few steps behind them.

Uranus felt her eyes widen as she took in the sight of Pluto. The green-haired woman had her staff raised with a crackling ball of red energy at its tip. What was she thinking?

"Move!" Pluto shouted before she tossed the ball of energy not at the creature but at the ground just beside it.

There was a boom and suddenly a hiss as water began to gush from the ground. Uranus laughed wildly. Pluto had blown out one of the water mains. Water shot out from the hole in the ground, bathing the creature in a torrent of liquid.

"Now, Neptune!" Pluto cried.

More water struck the creature as Neptune added her attack to the flood from the water main. The creature faltered, the lava that made up its flesh beginning to harden and cool. In its original form, there had been cracks in the rock to allow movement, but now it could scarcely move an inch as the water continued to pour down on it. No, Uranus thought, it was more than that. The water wasn't just cooling the outermost layer of lava into rock, it was cooling the creature all the way through.

"Uranus, Venus," Pluto said. "Attack."

The two of them nodded and their combined attack blew the creature apart. Half-cooled bits of lava and rock rained down on them as the remains of the creature sank into the growing pool of water at the centre of the intersection.

"That could have gone better," Neptune said, panting lightly as she jumped down onto the street.

Pluto nodded. "Indeed." She studied the others. Venus was badly bruised and had several burns, as did Uranus, for that matter, and Neptune looked exhausted from having to produce so much water.

"I hate to say it, but it would have been very handy to have Saturn around today," Venus said.

Though she said nothing, Pluto couldn't help but agree. Saturn probably would have made very short work of the creature, memories or not. "Venus, get in touch with the others. Hopefully their battle went a little better than ours."

And with that the senshi took to the rooftops, leaving behind a demolished train station and a flooded intersection with a geyser of water still shooting up from the broken water main.

Shinjiro chuckled as the first of the emergency services arrived to try and clean up the mess at the train station. He grinned as a flash of movement at the corner of his vision told him that Sayuri had arrived.

"Can I assume that the other senshi handled their end of things?" he asked.

Sayuri sat down beside him but shot him a glare when he moved to pull her closer. "Unfortunately, yes." She looked down at the train station. "Did Saturn cause all of this?"

"Actually, she wasn't here."

"What?" Sayuri grabbed him by the lapel of his shirt. "So what was the point of all of this?"

"Relax." He gently pulled her hands off his shirt. "She was with them earlier but she went home instead of joining them. Clearly, they don't want her to fight, most likely because she is beginning to remember and they don't want her to." He smiled. "After all, Saturn never did get along with the other senshi too well."

A frown crossed Sayuri's face. "I guess this night wasn't a completely loss then. But did you really just let her go home?"

Shinjiro's smiled widened. "Now when did I say that? She's going home by train all on her little lonesome. I already have one of our little friends headed her way. She'll have no choice but to fight and he's strong enough to push her. Hopefully, he's also smart enough to run once she gets serious."

"You actually care if he lives or not?" Sayrui asked in surprise.

"Not really, but filling in the paper work whenever one of our subordinates gets killed is so tiresome." He flashed her what he hoped was a winning smile. "Of course, you could always help me with that."

Fist met face. "Not a chance," she muttered as she stomped away and then vanished. "Do your own paper work."

X X X

Author's Notes

Once again, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

So, yeah, I actually updated approximately on schedule. This chapter's a bit longer too – consider it an apology of sorts for not updating for ages. Anyway, not too much to say here, other than I still haven't found my old files, but I'm making do.

As usual, get in touch. I welcome your reviews and comments.

By the way, I do intend on revealing more about Saturn's past, although I'm sure some of you are a bit aggravated at having to keep up with three different time lines.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

He said nothing as he led her away from the ruins of her village. Instead, he simply beckoned with one hand and slowed his pace just enough for her to be able to follow. But it was still a gruelling pace he set; at least it was for someone as young as her. Nor did he go out of his way to help her. If she fell then it was up to her to find her feet again, if she was tired or sleepy, then it was up to her to find the strength to keep going.

Only when it came to food and clothing did he make any exceptions. The food he had was dry and mostly tasteless, but after a day spent struggling to keep up, it was almost too good for words. She hadn't brought much in the way of clothes – in truth, there hadn't been much of anything to salvage from the village – so he cut the black cloak he wore into something smaller and draped it over her thin shoulders. Beneath it he wore black pants and trousers, neither of which looked like they were especially warm, but not once did he flinch as they travelled, even when the winds kicked up, cold and clawing, in the dead of the night.

It was on the third night of their journey, huddled close to the campfire he'd made, that she finally thought to ask him his name.

"What's your name?" she whispered, hoping that she hadn't offended him by asking.

He looked at her, eyes dark and inscrutable. "Why do you want to know?"

She blinked. "So I know what to call you."

He nodded. "If you must call me something, then call me master, for I will be teaching you."

"But don't you have a name?" she pressed on, for something had flickered quickly in his eyes, some emotion she couldn't name, but which she knew somehow was very important.

"I had a name once. I don't have one anymore." His voice was bland in its tone, deliberately so. "Besides, I'd rather keep only what I've earned and names are just things that people give us. We don't earn them. Mastery of something is different, it is earned."

She nodded. She didn't understand, not entirely, but it was clear that the subject was closed. They fell into another easy silence. That was another thing that puzzled her too, the way that silence between them never seemed heavy, like something that had to be gotten rid of, the way it always did with other people. It was almost like both of them were more comfortable in the silence.

"You have another question," he said. It was a statement of fact. "Ask it now."

There was one other thing that had been bothering her something that scared her because she'd not even noticed it until today. She hadn't cried for family, not even once, since they'd left the village. In place of tears and sorrow and pain, there was nothing. She felt strangely hollow inside as if she whatever part of her could feel had simply been cut out of her. In her dreams, she'd finally stopped smelling ash and blood and broken flesh, and she'd finally stopped screaming. Instead, her dreams were empty, filled with a deep and everlasting silence.

"Why don't I cry?" she whispered softly.

His eyes softened just a fraction and he reached out to lay one hand on her chest. "Inside you there is something that other people will fear. They will hate you and despite you because you are different. It is the reason that you cannot cry for your family and it is the reason that one day you will be powerful."

"What is it?" Suddenly it seemed cold, even though she was almost close enough to the fire to burn herself.

"Look up at the sky, girl, and tell me what you see." He hadn't asked for her name yet and she got the impression that he probably never would.

"Stars," she said, staring up into the Saturnian night, the sky studded with the small, twinkling gems amidst the larger, ribbons-like trails that marked her home planet's rings. "And the rings of Saturn."

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" She nodded. "But one day all those stars will fade. Perhaps some of them might become super novae, but even they will fade, in time. And one day, our planet and all its rings will be gone, washed away by the flow of time." He paused and caught her eyes, his gaze intense. "The only certainty in this universe is that things end. All that is built must fall to ruin, all that is beautiful must fade, and all that lives must die. There are no exceptions and nothing is eternal. In the end, this universe, for all its wonder, will one day be nothing more than a tomb: dead, dark, and silent." He closed his eyes. "Silence, girl, is what lies at the heart of creation."

For a long time, she said nothing. Finally, she spoke. "So that's what's inside me?"

"Yes. You cried your last tears before I found you. The silence where your heart should be is a part of you now. It always will be."

Part of her wanted to tell him that he was wrong, but something about his words struck a chord inside her. Maybe it was true. In any case, nothing changed the fact that she felt hollow, that where grief should be there was only emptiness. He was right about that much.

X X X

After almost two weeks of travel, she realised where they were headed. It was a place universally reviled by almost all Saturnians. They called it the Great Rift. Millennia ago, during the war that bound Saturn to the Lunar Empire, the Empire had found itself unable to penetrate the planet's defences. Frustrated and humiliated, the Empire chose to experiment with an as yet unproven form of weaponry.

Even millennia after the event, no one was sure of exactly what had occurred and the Empire had never used the weapon since. She could hardly blame them. The result, however, had been the creation of a massive tear in the fabric of reality that had rapidly expanded to completely devour the largest city on Saturn. If the explosion had simply killed everything, she knew her people might not have surrendered. However, some living things had survived, but they had changed. The tear warped them, turning living things into monstrous reflections of their former selves. Saturn's surrender had come not two days later.

Since then, Saturnians had reviled the Great Rift. It was not only an enduring symbol of their greatest defeat, but it was filled with hideous, mutated creatures driven insane by the unnatural energies of the Rift. For them to be headed toward it meant that either he was mad or extremely sure of his own abilities. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

She knew they were getting close because each day the vegetation grew more subtly menacing. There were colours that plants shouldn't have, shapes and forms that couldn't help but inspire fear. The animals began to change too, little things, at first, like the gaps between eyes or the exact position and orientation of limbs, but soon the changes were too great to ignore. Extra limbs appeared and the light in the animals' eyes became sinister and altogether too knowing.

He said nothing and she couldn't help but wonder about what effects the Rift would have on them. Would they too become twisted aberrations? But if he had a place here, then shouldn't he already have begun to change? Things came to a head when they were finally attacked by one of the creatures of the Rift.

It might once have been a lizard, but now it was something else. It was fifteen feet long with a bulky, scaly body. Instead of four legs, it had six, each with an extra joint and more claws than were normal. On its back, glowing faintly orange, were thick spines that ended in barbed points. It attacked just as they were settling down to eat their evening meal.

In one smooth motion, she was in his arms and he leapt aside and put her a safe distance away before he turned back to face the lizard. He drew the sword on his back slowly, with no hint of trepidation as the creature bore down on him, all teeth and claws and insane fury. At the last moment, he stepped aside, sword sweeping out and glowing green blood splattered onto the ground as he cut three of its legs off in a single smooth motion. The lizard crashed to the ground, flailing wildly, and he breezed away from the feral blows as easily as a wind rustling through the trees before he struck again and cleaved the lizard's head from its shoulders.

It should have horrified her. Blood was everywhere and the lizard's corpse was still twitching, but she found it beautiful. Or rather, she found him beautiful. The seamless union of mind and muscle, each movement performed perfectly with no hint of wasted motion, the flash of sword and spray of blood. And afterward there was the silence, lingering and wonderful, and broken only by the quiet whisper of blood on the sand. It was perfect. And she knew right then what he would be teaching her and that she would be all too eager to learn.

A few days later, they reached a small house near the vast canyon that marked the centre of the Rift. It was his house, his home, really, and he showed her in. It was small and he didn't have much, but what he did have was good. There was a small kitchen with the usual utensils and a room that must serve as the living room. Off to one side was another room, presumably his and beside it a bathroom. He pointed to an empty room and told her it would be hers. There wasn't even a bed in it yet. Hopefully they could do something about that.

"Why did you choose me?" she asked as they sat in the living room, two cups of water on the table in front of them.

"You have it wrong." He watched her carefully. "You chose me. That day, when I asked if you wanted to come with me, you agreed."

"But why?" she asked. "Why did you even offer to take me with you?"

"Because we are very much the same." His eyes narrowed. "That silence that you feel inside is not something that most people ever feel, not until the moment just before death when everything becomes clear. You are the youngest that I've ever met who has touched the silence and remained sane."

"So you feel it too?" She made no move toward her water.

"Yes. And you must be trained. The silence gives great power, but it takes, girl, it takes so much from you and it will drive you mad unless you learn how to use it." He smiled coldly. "And the ones who made you feel the silence are the same ones who made me feel it too."

"Who?" She shot to her feet.

"Not now." He waved her away. "You are young and weak and they will kill you the moment that they see you. Later, when you are stronger, we will deal with them. But not yet."

She sat slowly. "Is it safe for us to be here? Won't the Rift change us?"

He shook his head. "No. Those who are touched by the silence cannot be changed by the rift and here we need not fear discovery. Here, I can make it you what you need to be. This is a place of monsters, girl, and you will need to become a monster to avenge your family."

"I see." She took a sip of her water to wet her suddenly parched throat. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow."

X X X

The next morning her training began and it was brutal. Each day he would take her through a rigorous set of exercises designed to harden her body. As before, he was pitiless and any laziness or lack of attention was punished harshly. Yet he was kind, in his way, and understanding. If she didn't see how a technique or exercise should be completed, then he would show her and ensure that she could do it properly. He might push her, driving her to the brink of exhaustion and madness, but he always seemed to know when to pull back, to give her time to regather herself.

On most days, she would also follow him around as he hunted the creatures of the Rift, watching and learning from his example. She learned how to identify the weaknesses of each creature through careful study and observation and how to judge the finest moment to strike. And, of course, she learned to hide, clinging to even the barest shadow as she watched each kill with a sort of detached admiration.

On other days, he would leave her at his house and order her to read through the books that he had. He was surprisingly well read although many of his books seemed to be devoted to military strategy, martial arts, politics, psychology, and history. There was very little in the way of fiction, almost none, really, except for the few so-called classics of Saturnian literature.

However it was the lessons on fighting that she took to best. Her body he seemed to understand on some instinctive level how best to kill. But he refined that instinct, honed it to razor sharpness and added to it the mindset of an assassin and the skills of a martial artist. When she looked at the furniture in what she'd come to think of as their home, she no longer saw tables and chairs. She saw spans of wood bound together by nails. The furniture could be broken, the wood used for staves while the nails could be thrown or used to stab an opponent.

She also wanted very much to learn how to use weapons, to lose herself in the almost silent song of whirling steel, but for more than a year he refused to teach her.

"Why won't you teach me how to use a sword?" she asked, hands clenched into fists. She couldn't understand his reasoning. Hadn't she learned everything that he tried to teach her? Hadn't she endured every hardship without complaint?

He looked at her and then slowly nodded. "Did you know any swordsmen in your village?"

She paused in thought. The memories of her old life, of her village, seemed almost alien to her now. "I think so…"

"Was he good with a sword?"

She nodded, more certain now, the memories coming quickly. "Yes, I remember. He lived down the street from us. He was a soldier before."

"How was he without a sword?"

Her eyes widened in understanding. "I don't think he was very good."

"Exactly." His voice was firm. "You should learn how to fight without a weapon because any weapon can be taken from you. Your hands, your feet." He punctuated each word with a solid rap on each limb. "Your knees and your elbows and the rest of your body. These things cannot be taken from you short of crippling or killing you and if that happens, then the fight is over anyway."

"But you use a sword," she pointed out, grinning.

He frowned and she would have giggled had he not made it very clear that such emotions were unsuitable for one of his students. "Naturally, there are situations where weapons are preferable over hand-to-hand combat. Against the creatures that I hunt for our food, weapons are much more effective." He paused, considering. "Tomorrow then, I will begin teaching you how to use weapons, but never forget what I have said."

He was true to his word and from that day on, weapons were added to her training. He started with the sword but in time, she learned the staff, and many others, as well. Still, it frustrated her. She was good enough with a sword, in fact, he told her that she was good with all the weapons, but none of them felt quite right in her hands. All of them felt like they were just substitutes, things she used because what she really wanted wasn't available. He must have sensed her discomfort, because one day he vanished only to return with a glaive.

At first, she wasn't sure what to think. It was long and heavy, and the blade at the end made it awkward to use compared to the staffs that she was used to. But the moment she held it in her hands she knew she'd found her other half, the weapon that would fit her as well as the sword seemed to fit him.

And so the years passed.

She was six when she first arrived at the Great Rift with him.

She made her first kill at eight. It was a large, vaguely feline creature about ten feet long. He watched from the edge of the clearing of warped, mangled trees, as she and the creature circled each other. It was fast, faster than her, but it was hungry and that hunger made it careless. It leapt and she darted forward, driving the point of her knife up and under and into the tender flesh of its throat. Blood rained down on her and it took every ounce of her strength to shove the heavy weight of its corpse off her. She looked to him for approval. He said nothing, but he was smiling and then he showed her how to skin it.

By the age of ten, she was hunting on her own and he began to leave for weeks at a time. He never said where he went, but she had her suspicions. The weapons he had must have come from somewhere and the house also had its fair share of technology. Things like that cost money and she didn't have to be very bright to work out where he got his. He was an assassin, or something similar.

Over the years, the silence in her grew, as well. Each kill made it a little louder, each new technique made it harder to ignore. By the age of eleven, it had begun to manifest physically. The first time had been an accident. She was hunting something perhaps a shade too large and strong for her to bring down on her own and during the fight her spear snapped. The creature leapt on her and they went down in tangle of limbs. She felt its teeth biting down on her shoulder and shoved to keep it away from her throat. Her blood pounded in her veins and the silence inside became a roar. The next thing she knew, her hands were wreathed in deep violet and her fingers were clawing through a skull that was harder than reinforced crystal-steel.

When she told him what had happened, he hadn't seemed the least bit surprised. Instead, he seemed faintly pleased, as though something he'd been waiting a long time for had finally occurred. And so he began to train her in the powers that the silence had gifted her with, as well.

It took her a while, but she realised that their powers weren't quite the same. The silence let him move more quietly and swiftly than anyone should be able to move and he could use it to sharpen the edges of his weapons. Her powers could do those things too, but more than that, they were destructive. The purple effulgence that she could summon disintegrated almost everything after only a few moments of contact. It was also disturbing how quietly it did so.

She was fourteen years old and capable of killing just about any of the creatures that lived near the Rift inside of a minute when he finally decided to tell her what had happened to her family.

"Are you ready to learn why your family died?" he asked. They were sitting at the table, their dinner long since finished. Normally, he would read and she would do the same, or perhaps practice outside, but now his eyes were intent, serious. It was time.

"Yes. I'm ready." Dimly, she was aware that the emptiness inside her had begun to howl. "Tell me everything."

"What do you know about the politics of the Solar System?" He had a habit of asking her questions, of making her work out the answers for herself. Normally, she could appreciate the point of such an approach, but now she had little patience for it. Still, she knew she had to play along. He had all the cards here.

"The Lunar Empire is centred around the Moon and encompasses all of the planets in Solar System apart from Earth." She paused. "The Earth is a protected zone, its people deemed too primitive to bother with, its environment pleasant enough but hardly worth the effort and expense that would be involved in subjugating the local populace given that there is ample space elsewhere."

"Good." He nodded. "You have learned well. Now tell me, what is the relationship between the Moon and each of its planets?"

She forced herself to stay calm, even as the silence inside her began to claw at the walls around it. Over the last few weeks, she'd noticed that she'd killed her prey with unnecessary ferocity. She would have to ask him about it later. "All of the planets pay tribute to the Moon. The most noticeable examples of this are the senshi, typically the first-born daughters of the planets' ruling families. They serve as the Empress of the Moon's personal bodyguards and most trusted subordinates. However they are also hostages, tools to be used should the planets ever rebel. But Saturn has no senshi." She frowned. "From what I've read, we seem to dislike the Moon very much, but lack the strength to rebel."

His eyes moved from her to the wall and he seemed to be looking at something far away, something she couldn't hope to see. "Exactly. Those creatures that killed your family were prototype weapons of war created for the coming battle with the Lunar Empire. It is the intention of the royal family of Saturn to formally secede and to do so they will need weapons and they do not care what it takes to create them. They are willing to pay any price to secure independence from the Moon."

She slammed one hand on the table. "The royal family? That's crazy! How could they do that to their own people?"

"Easily." He met her gaze levelly. "I have sheltered you here so that I could make you strong, but that has also hidden the way that things are from you. Soon, we will leave this place and you will see with your own eyes, just what the royal family of Saturn is capable of."

She settled. "But why their own people?"

"Had they used anyone else, the Moon would learn of it." He must have seen her sceptical look, so he pressed on. "Think about it. You must remember the way that all villages are connected to the Network. Any attack should have triggered an immediate call for assistance. Yet when I found where were they?"

She was silent. He was right. The Network was a system of communication that was supposed to connect the many villages scattered around Saturn to the major cities. It was supposed to ensure their safety, but she'd waited three days and no one had come except him. Was he right about everything?

"You don't have to believe me just yet," he said. "In three days, we are going to be leaving for Requiem City and you will see for yourself what the royal family has done." Something that would have been a grin spread across his face. "Besides, you have been here for far too long with only me and the creatures of the Rift for company. It is time that you learned more about others."

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon nor am I making a dime off this.

So… this chapter has us heading back into the past. I know it's been a while since I addressed the past (as in this part of the past), but I thought it was time to do so again, especially since I'm sure people are curious about it. Whatever the case, it should be clear that things in the past weren't all rainbow, kittens, and butterflies. I'm not sure if someone can be born a monster, but I know that people can be _turned_ into monsters by what happens in their life.

If you're wondering about the quick updating, it's because I said that I'd try to update once a week and I'm not sure I'll have the time next week. I am well aware of the occasionally protracted length of time between updates, so if I have a chapter, rather than wait, I will release it once I think it is not completely terrible. That said, this chapter does have a rather peculiar history, in that it was written to a mix of Erza's theme on the Fairy Tail OST and watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I'm not sure what to make of that…

As always, I look forward to your feedback. Reviews and comments are appreciated.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Hotaru blinked and realised that she was staring at her own reflection in the train window. Had she fallen asleep? She glanced outside hoping to catch sight of some familiar landmarks, but dusk had fallen and it was hard to see much of anything save for the usual haphazard array of lights that marked houses and other smaller buildings. Finally, the train lurched to a stop and she breathed a sigh of relief. She might have dozed off, but there were still a few stops before hers.

As the train pulled away she rubbed her hands over her face. The train was going to be expressing past the next few stops and the last thing she needed was to doze off again. Turning back to the window, she studied her reflection again. Her face looked drawn and tired, and her eyes, normally a quietly expressive shade of deep purple, seemed dull and almost lifeless. The last few days had taken their toll and although part of her wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep, another part of her dreaded what her dreams might bring.

Shifting to lean her head against the window, she let her gaze run lazily over the rest of the carriage. It was empty, which was a little surprising but not unheard of, and she wondered whether it would be a good idea to use her unexpected solitude to contact the other senshi. Yet almost as quickly as the idea came, she discarded it. They might still be fighting and she didn't want to risk distracting them.

She glanced out of the window again. Another thirty minutes till her stop, maybe a bit more. Her eyes drifted shut.

Thump.

She jerked up into a sitting position and looked around for the source of the noise. There was no one there and nothing nearby that could have made the sound. She sighed. Maybe she was being paranoid. She let her head fall back against the window again.

Thump.

Her eyes shot open. There it was again and if she wasn't mistaken, the noise had come from above her, almost like there was something on the roof. No longer caring how ridiculous she felt, she got to her feet and walked to the centre of the carriage, her eyes on the roof above her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

There was definitely something up on the roof. The noises started from the centre and then moved toward the edge. Slowly, she turned to the window closest to where the last sound had come from and took a slow step back. Her breathing hastened a fraction and she slipped, almost unconsciously, into a loose fighting stance.

Nothing.

And then the window behind her came apart in a spray of broken glass. Something whistled through the air toward her and she dropped into a crouch. Sparks flew and one of the tall poles that lined the aisle of the carriage crashed to the ground, cut cleanly in half. Before she could move again, something struck her with enough force to lift her up off the ground and slam her into the opposite wall of the carriage.

Pain shot through her and she heard the screech of metal as the carriage wall dented from the impact of her body. Beside her, a window shattered and the angry howl of the wind filled her ears. She wrenched herself from the wall and stumbled away, kicking one half of the ruined pole at her attacker. He knocked the cylinder of metal aside easily, but she managed to buy enough time to get her first good look at him.

He wasn't much taller than her, but he moved with the lithe deadly grace that only years of combat experience could bring. There was a sword in his right hand, and its blade was of a strange black metal that seemed oddly familiar. She felt a cold sweat break out along her forehead. The metal was almost too black to be real, so dark it seemed to be made of the very night beyond the broken windowpanes and rather than reflect the sterile light that filled the carriage, it appeared almost to devour it. Only one weapon she'd ever seen before looked like that: the Silence Glaive.

Then her gaze moved to the cloak he wore and deep inside her, she felt Saturn stir as millennia of loathing seethed coldly and terribly to life. His cloak was a purple so dark that it could easily have been black and the clasp that closed it was a black raven clutching a glaive in its claws.

_It was the crest of the Royal House of Saturn._

The thought slithered to the front of her mind like a vast serpent made of pitch. She swallowed. The thought belonged to Saturn, and with it came the image of a vast and desolate plain peopled only with lingering ghosts and the ruins of once great buildings.

_They did this. _

And then Saturn was pressing on her mind, the silence inside her beating like some alien heart.

"You're only a shadow of her." His voice was mocking, each word pitched perfectly to insult her. "But she's there inside you, I can feel it." His sword traced the air in a lazy figure eight, the tip beginning to glow with the colour of old rust. "I just have to bring her out."

He thrust his sword forward and she blanched as a wave of raw force rolled off the weapon. It tore through the air toward her, ripping apart the poles on either side of the central aisle. If she had been in her senshi form, she could have used her glaive to block the blast or bat it away, but there wasn't enough time for her to transform.

_Have you forgotten what we are?_

Violet light shimmered into existence around her hands and she thrust them forward. The blast fractured into countless smaller pieces that ricocheted wildly off her palms, gouging holes in the roof, the sides of the carriage, and even the floor. The lights flared, one of them exploding, before they began to flicker, bathing the carriage in an unsteady stream of fragile light.

"Yes." A slow, cruel smile crossed his lips as he took first one step forward and then another, his pace quickening. "That was exactly what I was looking for."

He blurred forward almost too fast for her to see and she could hear Saturn in her head telling her to move before she got both of them killed. She dodged backward and looked for something she could use as a weapon. There was nothing. The remnants of the poles that were scattered around the ruined carriage were either too short or damaged to the point where she doubted they'd last even a few seconds in her hands. Another slash came her way and she shifted to the side, letting it strike the ground, but he was ready and she only saw the swirl of his cloak before his kick knocked down the centre of the carriage.

She skidded to a stop against the far wall and dragged herself up to her feet in time to duck another attack. He made a disgusted sound and then his knee was ramming into her chin. She struck the wall hard and thoughts flashed through her mind as she saw him lift his sword again. Where was everyone? Why wasn't anybody coming to investigate? Saturn's voice, cold and terrible filled her ears.

_We will always be alone. Accept it._

No, she thought wildly, throwing herself forward and out of the way as she scrambled to find some room. She wasn't alone, she had Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru, and all of the others.

_Then where are they now?_

They were helping people. That was what they did wasn't it? He rushed forward, his blade a black blur as he lashed out again and again. She felt a cut open on her thigh, another on her shoulder, and then she slipped, blood flowing down her side from the nick across her ribs. A fraction slower and he'd have cut her in half.

_There is no else. _

Why was she alone? She kicked blindly at him, scoring a clumsy hit off his shoulder that forced him back. Where was her strength? Why was she so weak?

_Because you are afraid of what we are._

Of course she was afraid. Saturn was a monster. She'd killed a whole planet and she'd almost killed Haruka and Setsuna. Hotaru didn't want to be anything like her.

_Monsters aren't born. They are made._

Unbidden, memories flooded through her of a small house at the edge of a vast ravine and of years spent learning how to fight. Bile rose in her throat as she relived kill after kill in the shadow of the Great Rift.

_That is who we are._

He came forward again and she lurched back, clutching at her head. No, she thought. That was who Saturn had chosen to be. She hadn't chosen that, she would never choose that.

_If they killed the ones you loved, if they took away all that was precious to you, would you really have chosen any differently?_

She felt the sting of another wound along her forearm and realised with horrible certainty that he was toying with her. "Why are you doing this?" she cried. "Why won't you leave me alone?"

He smirked. "Looking at you, I can see that she's so close now, all it would take it is one more push." He flicked his sword to the side, her blood splattering onto the wall. "Do you want to know why I am doing this?" He lunged forward, striking her in the shoulder with the hilt of his sword. "Because I can." Each word was punctuated with a strike with the flat of his sword and she could barely focus on what he was saying through the pain. "And when I'm done, I'll go after your friends and it will be a hundred times worse for them than this." He shoved her back to sprawl on the ground. "What do you think of that?"

She said nothing. Her eyes glazed as her mind repeated his words over and over again. He wasn't going to stop with just her. He would go after everyone and he would hurt all of them too. And hurt them worse than he was hurting her. For a moment, the whole world was gone. The roar of the wind through the broken windows and the holes in the carriage fell away. The flickering lights that lit the carriage wheeled above her and then vanished like so much mist before the morning sun. Her body was numb and all she could feel was nothing.

Was she dead?

No.

Then what was that sound?

It was there, the only thing left in the entire world. It rustled on the edges of her awareness, a low and gentle sound that was somehow soothing it its utter finality. It was all that was real in her after everything else was stripped away. It was the secret of creation, the beginning and the end of everything she was and could ever be.

It was silence.

And it was perfect.

She stood. It was like she was thinking clearly for the first time in her life. The man in front of her wanted to take from her everything that she considered important. Mercy, kindness, compassion no longer applied. He was nothing more than a walking corpse. Something about her must have changed, because as she raised her head and met his gaze, he took a slow, uncertain step back.

_Now you understand._

She nodded slowly. Her wounds no longer bothered her. Calmly, she catalogued the damage and began to factor in how it would affect her ability to obliterate her opponent. "I understand." She tilted her head to one side, bloody bangs brushing down over her eyes. "Where should I begin?"

_Take his weapon from him._

Yes, she thought, remembering something she'd heard a long time ago. "You should learn how to fight without a weapon because any weapon can be taken from you. Your hands, your feet, your knees, and your elbows, and the rest of your body cannot be taken from you short of crippling you or killing you…" she breathed the words out reverently.

"What are you babbling about?" he growled and she watched as he regathered himself and brandished his sword. "Well?"

_Now!_

She darted forward and his sword stabbed forward to catch her in the chest. At the last moment, she ghosted to the side and the edge of the sword skimmed the side of her ruined shirt. His eyes widened in surprise before she clamped one hand around the wrist of his sword arm and lunged forward, her other elbow swinging up and then down onto the bridge of his nose.

She felt his nose break beneath the blow and tightened her hold on his sword arm. Silently, she continued to strike at his face with her elbow until finally he managed to get his other arm up to ward off the blows.

"That's enough!"

Ignoring his cry, she hopped upward, driving her knee into his ribs. She heard the creak of bone as she snaked the arm she'd been elbowing him with around the back of his neck, holding him in a clinch as she kneed him again and again. It was ugly and inelegant, but she didn't care. A moment later, she heard a wet snap as his ribs broke beneath the assault and as he faltered backward, she wrenched the wrist of his sword arm violently to one side. The blade clattered to the ground and she landed a solid kick to his chest that sent him skidding across the floor.

He stood slowly and clutched at his wounded side. She noted with calm dispassion that he'd begun to spit up blood. Clearly, one of his broken ribs must have punctured his lungs.

_Finish it._

She advanced on him and he drew himself up, dropping into a fighting stance of his own. Almost contemptuously, she threw a kick at the side of one of his knees. The bone trembled beneath the weight of the kick, but held, and he staggered back.

_Pathetic._

He bellowed and charged as best he could half-hobbled. One hand shot toward her jaw. Rather than dodge, she twisted and let his fist clatter off her shoulder. Pain shot through the joint, but she had what she wanted as she grabbed his extended arm, bracing the elbow with one arm and striking down on it with the other.

Snap.

A ragged howl left his lips as his elbow broke and almost on instinct, he swung at her with the other arm. She blocked the blow and repeated the procedure with almost mechanical efficiency.

"Please…" he groaned as she knocked him to the ground and straddled his chest. One hand grabbed the clasp of his cloak and tossed it aside. "Don't…"

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

His head rocked back and struck the floor with each punch and she realised with a vague sense of detachment that she was probably killing him and found that she didn't care. He had threatened the people precious to her so his life was worth nothing.

"Would you listened to them if they begged?" she asked. Thump. Thump. Thump. "Would you have listened to me?" He was likely beyond hearing her now, but she didn't care. The silence was lifting now, and in its place was a dull roar. No, she realised, not a roar. It was screaming. She was screaming.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

And then the silence was gone entirely and she was staring down at his face. Or what was left of it. Her gorge rose and she was powerless to contain it, stumbling off him and heaving until there was nothing left in her stomach and her throat was a raw, bile-tasting mess. She slumped to the ground.

Through the ruins of his mouth, he groaned.

He was alive. How could he be alive? Saturn answered for her.

_He's not human. You know that. Now finish it._

She stared at the twitching body as he struggled to move and felt her stomach convulse again. Had she done that? Her gaze dropped to her hands. The sheer force with which she'd been hitting him had torn off the skin on her knuckles. His blood was all over her.

"No," she whispered. "It couldn't have been me. It was Saturn." She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, rocking slowly. "It was Saturn."

But inside she knew. She knew that it had been her. She could still feel the way his elbow gave beneath her strike, could still feel the crunch of her fists against his face. And he'd pleaded with her, or at least he'd tried to, but he'd stopped after the first few blows. Not out of choice. He probably hadn't had enough of a face left to form the words.

Slowly, her rocking stopped. There were lights appearing through the holes in the carriage. The train must be getting close to its stop. What if people found her like this, found her with him? What would they think?

_You know what they would think._

Forcing back her panic, she transformed. She didn't care anymore. She couldn't stay here, couldn't look at what she'd done a moment longer. Blindly, she leapt out of the train and fled into the night. The whole way home, Saturn was silent and Hotaru was left alone with her thoughts.

"It was Saturn," she repeated under her breath. "It was Saturn."

But she knew the truth. Saturn might have spoken to her, might have shown her things, but Saturn had never once had control on the train. No, all of that had been her. She had chosen to practically slaughter that man. She and Saturn really were the same.

X X X

Author's Notes

Once again, I neither own this, nor am I making a dime off it.

This is probably the most violent chapter in this story to date. However, I do believe that it serves a purpose. In all of the previous incidents where Hotaru has gone "berserk", it has been Saturn either partially or totally in control of her actions. This time, Hotaru was the one in control and that makes a big, big difference. She can no longer just tell herself that all the bad things that she's done are because of Saturn. On some fundamental level, she can't help but wonder if there's really any difference between the two of them at all. And that's the point. One way or another, she's going to have to come to grips with just how she and Saturn are related.

As for the update, I wasn't sure I'd get one out this week, but I've managed to find the time. As I've said earlier, I've procrastinated on this story for a long time and I worry that doing so again will result in my slipping back into old habits.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Your reviews and comments are much appreciated.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Your Majesty, we've just received word Jupiter," began the officer monitoring communications from the outer planets before he stopped, seemingly unable to form the necessary words. He swallowed once, thickly, and then pressed on. "The Jovian Fleet is lost. Our estimates put the casualties in excess of 87%."

Gasps echoed throughout the war room and no small number of the military personnel inside it looked on the verge of tears. Even Sailor Mars appeared utterly shaken, her normally fierce demeanour overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the loss. The Jovian Fleet was the largest of the planetary fleets, and its loss left the inner planets and the Moon completely exposed.

Only Serenity remained unmoved. Her flawless features retained their calm and she waited just long enough for the panic to pass before she leaned forward in her chair overlooking the war room and spoke.

"Mars, what is the status of the Martian Fleet?" Serenity asked.

Mars shifted uncomfortably on the spot. "They are standing by, Your Majesty. However a large number of Martian ships were involved in the initial battles around Neptune and Uranus. The strength of the Martian Fleet is perhaps only half of what it would normally be and even if it were at full strength, the Jovian Fleet had more ships."

"Perhaps the Jovian Fleet had more ships, but I was under the impression that on a one-to-one basis, the Martian Fleet is the strongest in the Empire." Serenity paused and then arched one delicate brow as she let a hint of a smile play across her lips. Much to her amusement, Mars flushed slightly. "Tell me, Mars, was I misinformed?"

"Of course not, Your Majesty," Mars stuttered. She hesitated, looking for the right words. "However… there is something to be said of numbers and the demons have far more ships than we do."

"I see. In that case, how long do you think the Martian Fleet would hold if it was deployed around Mars?" Serenity asked. For an instant, something not dissimilar to desperation flashed across Mars' face. For Serenity, that was all the answer she needed: Mars would fall regardless of the Martian Fleet's deployment.

"Perhaps a day, Your Majesty, two at the most." Mars' fists clenched and Serenity quietly calculated the odds of an evacuation of the planet being completed in that time. No, with the hyperspace tunnels connecting the Grand Gates on each of the planets and the Moon closed, it would be impossible to fully evacuate Mars before the demons devastated the planet.

Serenity straightened slightly in her chair and though her expression remained outwardly pleasant, her eyes were razor sharp. Gone was the benevolent empress that the public venerated. In her place, revealed in her twin cerulean orbs, was the ruthless leader of the Lunar Empire. "Mars," she said, every iota of her being focused on the other woman's. "Do you think that there is any point in deploying the Martian Fleet to protect Mars?"

The temperature in the war room surged as the Martian struggled for control. Her face was contorted in anguish and panic glittered in her eyes. Finally, she sagged, going limp as shudders wracked her frame. Serenity almost pitied the younger woman for what she would have to say. Both of them understood the full gravity of the situation, but Serenity needed Mars to face it, to accept it, and to make the decision to abandon her home planet on her own.

"As it stands," Mars ground out, not lifting her eyes from the floor. "Mars is a lost cause." Slowly, she raised her head and though her voice grew hoarse, she forced herself to continue, even as a solitary tear trickled down one cheek. "Those there should be given the order to evacuate as best they can although it is unlikely that all, or even many of them, will be able to escape in time." Her voice trembled. "The time that the demons spend destroying Mars should give us adequate time to assemble what is left of the Empire's forces around the Moon."

Serenity nodded and shifted her gaze from Mars to the war room's central display. "Make it so."

Mars closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Seconds passed and still she did not give the order to the officers waiting to relay it along the Empire's communication networks. Silence reigned in the war room, broken only by the soft murmurs of the displays as they continued to tally the obliteration of the Empire's forces.

"Mars," Serenity said softly. "Give the order, or I will do it myself."

"Please…" There was a strange sound, almost like a sob and Serenity's eyes widened as Mars dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground. "Please… don't make me give that order."

"Get up," Serenity said tersely, well aware that every eye in the war room was now on her and Mars. "For the Empire's sake, Sailor Mars, get up!"

But Mars refused to rise and when she finally lifted her face from the floor, Serenity could see that she was weeping. Sailor Mars, the most belligerent and prideful of her senshi, was weeping. "Please, Your Majesty, don't do this… at least let me give my people a decent chance to run. Please."

For the first time in many, many years, Serenity was unsure of what to do. From a strictly intellectual standpoint, she knew, as well as Mars did, that although deploying the Martian Fleet might buy the Martians enough time to flee, it would also result in the annihilation of their only real remaining fighting force. For all of their technology, the Mercurians were terrible warriors and the Venusians were scarcely better. Yet to refuse Mars now when she was on her knees and begging could irreparably damage her relationship with one of her most valuable senshi. Mars would never trust her again. The absolute and blind devotion that Serenity needed would vanish and in its place would be only a grudging adherence to duty. Worse, it had not escaped Serenity's notice, that perhaps a quarter of the war room's staff was Martian. They, along with many who weren't Martian, had begun to openly weep, as well. Even if she gave the order to abandon Mars herself, she was no longer sure that it would be obeyed. They might even mutiny.

So instead, Serenity forced herself to remain calm. There had to be a solution. Her lips twitched. If only Pluto were here, she was sure that the green-haired woman would have had a suggestion, but Pluto was gone. She'd sent her on a desperate mission to recruit Saturn. In retrospect, it was a foolish gamble, one that couldn't possibly succeed, and it had robbed her of one of her finest advisors during a crucial time.

Suddenly the harsh cry of an alarm filled the war room. For several seconds no one moved, afraid to disturb the delicate balance between Mars and Serenity. Finally, one of the officers found the wherewithal to answer it. His gaze snapped to his display and he seemed to do a double take as he read over the message it displayed.

Grateful for the distraction, Serenity raised her voice. "Officer, what is it?"

His voice shook. "Your Majesty, it is a message from Pluto."

"Pluto?" Serenity's eyes widened. Could Pluto possibly have succeeded? "Speak. What is her message?"

"She and her escort are travelling at full speed. They should arrive within the hour." His face paled as he brought the message up onto the central display. "She says that Saturn is with her and that Saturn is willing to fight the demons."

Serenity chuckled darkly. That was just the beginning of the message. Saturn wanted a meeting with her, as well. How interesting. She stood and gestured toward Mars. "Mars, compose yourself and gather the other senshi. We shall meet Saturn in the throne room."

The senshi wiped the tears from her cheek but remained on her knees. "And the Martian Fleet?"

Serenity took several steps toward the door leading out of the war room and then stopped. A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. "Deploy it around Mars. If this meeting with Saturn goes well, they won't be doing any fighting, because she'll be doing it for us." She continued toward the door. "And if it goes poorly, it won't matter. Saturn will probably kill all of us herself."

X X X

"Remembers your orders, my senshi. No one it to move or act against Saturn unless I give the order. Is that understood?" Serenity's gaze hardened as she swept her eyes over the senshi gathered before her. All of them were here, except for Pluto, and every single one of them seemed ill at ease with the idea of meeting Saturn. Although she would never admit it, she was also uneasy. If the legends were to be believed, then even she would not be able to match Saturn's raw destructive power.

The doors at the far end of the throne room swung open and Serenity's eyes narrowed a fraction as she took in the two figures that entered bereft of any entourage or formal escort. Pluto was the first and as their eyes met, Serenity could easily read the message in them: tread very lightly. And there, beside Pluto, was the woman that was Saturn, or at least, Serenity assumed she was Saturn.

The woman wore a black cloak with a hood that obscured everything save for the unmistakably feminine swell of her hips and chest. Instinctively, Serenity reached out with her power to try and confirm her suspicions only to find herself grasping at emptiness. It was almost like the darkly clad woman wasn't even there. She gave off no power of her own and Serenity's attempts to coax it from her proved totally futile. Either the woman had no power at all, or her control of it was incredible. Serenity did doubt for a moment that it was the latter.

"I trust, Pluto, that it is the Lady Saturn that stands beside you?" Serenity asked at last.

Pluto opened her mouth to speak, but the cloaked woman beside her simply raised one pale hand to silence the green-haired woman. Then, wordlessly, she replied for herself. A stifling wave of cold hatred swept through the throne room, so intense that it all but drove the senshi to their knees. Tendrils of violet light flared to life around the woman's lithe frame and lashed the area around her. Whatever they touched vanished, destroyed so completely that nothing at all remained, not even dust.

Yet even as the maelstrom of power grew more violent and the defences hidden in the throne room, both magical and technological, began to fail, not a single sound was heard. And though Pluto stood not three feet from Saturn, no harm came to her. It was a terrifying display of immense power wielded with sublime control and even as part of her quailed before the sight of it, Serenity felt her breathing quicken and her cheeks flush. Saturn's power was beautiful, magnificent. She wanted it.

At last the tempest began to subside. Sound and thought flooded back into the room. Instantly, several of the senshi darted forward, but Saturn simply raised one hand. Something shimmered into being, a long length of pitch black metal, so dark that it seemed as though it were nothing more than a shadow made material. The senshi stopped, suddenly unsure and Serenity's pulse hammered in her ears. In Saturn's hands was the greatest of weapons, the Silence Glaive.

Serenity motioned for the senshi to fall back. "Why did you ask to meet with me?"

Saturn let the glaive shift in her grasp until its blunt end struck the polished marble floor. It made no sound. Slowly, she reached up and pulled her hood back to reveal dark purple hair and eyes the same colour as the power that she wielded. Her voice, when she was spoke, was almost gentle, yet it was a false gentleness, one that hinted at violence and wrath only barely restrained. It was, Serenity thought, the very same sort of gentleness that a scabbard might lend a sword.

"I wanted to see, with my own eyes, if you were any different from all of the others."

Serenity's brows furrowed slightly. She had almost forgotten just how ancient Saturn was. "And what do you see?"

"You are exactly what I expected." Saturn's eyes drifted closed. "You are the same as your predecessors."

The words were spoken calmly, yet Serenity could not shake the feeling that she had just been gravely insulted. However, she forced herself to hide her displeasure. Saturn was not like Mars or her other senshi. Saturn did not look up to her with blind adoration. It was doubtful if she even respected her. Still, the fact remained that Serenity needed her or rather she needed the power that Saturn wielded. For power like that, a few indignities were a very, very small price to pay.

"Pluto tells me that you will fight for me. Will you?" Serenity asked.

"For you?" Saturn's eyes opened and met Serenity's and for an endless moment Serenity was sure that she was about to die. "I would never fight for you. I fight for myself and for those unfortunate enough to find themselves the subjects of an empress too weak to protect them."

The sheer audacity of the insult made Serenity gasp and she had to gesture once again to hold her senshi back from a fight that they could not possibly win. "Very well. I suppose, that in the end, you reasons are not my concern. So long as you fight the demons, we have an understanding. I trust that Pluto has made arrangements for your reward?"

Saturn nodded almost imperceptibly. "Pluto and I have come to an arrangement." Her gaze sharpened. "And do not think to ask what our agreement is. My business is the Guardian of Time alone."

"I see." Serenity pursed her lips. How interesting. What could a woman as powerful as Saturn want that only Pluto could provide? There were many intriguing possibilities. Even if she didn't know exactly what Saturn wanted the fact that she had been willing to bargain with Pluto was reassuring. Everyone had a price, even Saturn. Everyone had a weakness too, and if she could figure out what Saturn's was, what an incredible weapon she would have. It would be risky, but the rewards would be great indeed. Yes, let Saturn have her prize, let her throw her insults with abandon. Serenity had suffered worse and in the end she would do what she always did: she would survive and she would conquer. "If your arrangement with Pluto is to your satisfaction, then I would ask that you accompany my fleet immediately. An attack upon Mars is imminent."

X X X

Serenity felt a deep shudder run through her ship as the helmsman first cut power to the forward thrusters before firing their backward counterparts to draw the ship to a halt just shy of Mars. Her gaze drifted to the main screen where one of the officers had projected a tactical display of the red planet and its immediate surroundings. The Martian Fleet was already in place and still intact. They must have arrived before the demons.

"What would you like us to do?" Serenity glanced at Saturn, who stood not far from her on of the top tier of the command deck. Mars stood between them and farther back was Pluto, the faintest hint of apprehension in her eyes. Serenity smiled coldly. Whatever Saturn had shown Pluto before they arrived at the Lunar Palace must have been quite something if it had shaken the Time Guardian badly enough to reveal her unease.

Saturn closed her eyes and Serenity shivered as she felt the sudden expansion of her power. A few moments later, the purple haired woman nodded. "The demons are not far. An hour away, perhaps, maybe two depending on how tightly they hold their formation."

"You can sense them from that far?" Mars asked sounding strangely envious. Serenity smirked inwardly. Martians were well known for their affinity with the spirit world, and Mars was one of their most powerful, in that respect. It must have rankled her to see another with such ability.

"Not in the way that you can." Saturn's eyes glazed briefly. "I sense them through the death they bring and the darkness that clings so tightly to them." Her eyes refocused. "When they arrive, fire a single volley and then retreat. Pull all of your ships back."

Mars stared at Saturn in disbelief. "Are you insane? What are you planning to do, fight them yourself?"

"Yes." Saturn's voice was blunt and brooked no disobedience as though she were addressing a small, intransigent child. "I want you to fire to get their attention. It will be easier if I can kill all of them at once. However if you are too close when I start fighting then you will all almost certainly be killed."

"Pluto," Serenity murmured. "Do you concur with Saturn's suggestion?"

Pluto managed to keep from trembling. "I have seen Saturn fight and I concur with her suggestion."

"Very well then. When the battle begins, Saturn, we will fall back. For now, however, we shall wait." Serenity raised her voice so that the rest of the command deck could hear. "Extend our sensors. I wish to know the moment that the demons arrive."

They waited precisely one hour and twenty-two minutes for the demons to arrive.

"Your Majesty, we're getting multiple contacts."

Serenity glanced at Mars and nodded once. In theory, Serenity was supreme commander of the Lunar Empire's military forces. However, in practice, most that responsibility was actually delegated to Mars.

"Can you we get an estimate?" Mars growled. "Just how many ships do they have?"

The officer grimaced. "I can't be sure. They're bunched up quite tightly, but there are a lot of them. Our sensors count more than one thousand ships and more are arriving every second."

"To still have so many ships left…" Mars shook her head slowly and made a disgusted sound. "Have they seen us?"

The officer nodded. "I think so. They're slowing down. He gulped. We should have a visual on them shortly. Do you want that up on screen?"

It was Serenity who spoke. "Put them on screen. I would like to see the demons who dare attack the Lunar Empire."

The main screen crackled to life and almost to a man, the crew on the command deck recoiled from the sight that greeted them. The ships of the Lunar Empire were the product of millennia of hard work from the finest minds in the Solar System, a breathtaking union of elegance and power. The demonic fleet was insult to nature. Each demonic ship was a hideous aberration, a vile fusion of bloated, half-rotted flesh, and warped metal. Thick pipes made out of what seemed to be partially living tissue ran along the outside of each ship, pulsing rhythmically as though in time to some hideous alien heart. Great streams of black and red fluid gushed from the punctures in the sides of the demonic vessels and spun crazily into the emptiness of space.

"Abomination," Serenity breathed after several seconds.

Mars glanced back at the tactical display. "Are the demons still arriving?"

The officer shook his head. "I'm not detecting any new arrivals, although really, with this many ships, it's hard to be sure." He grimaced and then looked back at his screen with renewed interest. "According to our sensors there are at least three thousand demonic ships out there."

Three thousand ships, Serenity thought. Unbelievable. Worse, they had no choice but to go along with Saturn's plan and if she betrayed them now, the demonic fleet would obliterate them. "Saturn, shall we open fire?"

Saturn nodded. "A single volley should be sufficient for my purposes."

Serenity looked at Mars. The senshi nodded. "All ships are to open fire, a single volley only."

The ship trembled as its weapons came to life. All along its hull, hatches opened to reveal missile pods, laser turrets, and the bulkier shapes of plasma cannons. Then there was another deeper rumble as the ship, along with the rest of the Imperial fleet, opened fire. Long streams of plasma blossomed across the gap between the Lunar Empire's ships and the demonic fleet. Missiles followed just behind, trails of exhaust behind them, as the flash of laser fire lit up the darkness of space.

The results were impressive. Explosions rippled along the front line of the demonic fleet as scores of vessels were torn apart by the attack. A large demonic ship, a deranged construct of ruined flesh and steel, coasted badly to one side, its hull leaking blood and plasma, before it crunched into the ship beside it. It tore a jagged hole in the other vessel before both exploded in a shower of blood and gore.

Cheers rang out through the command deck, but Serenity paid them no mind. What was the loss of scores of ship to a fleet that numbered in the thousands? Now the demonic fleet was going to return fire and if Saturn's plan went the least bit awry, they were probably all dead.

"Multiple energy signatures detected!" someone screamed. "The demonic fleet is preparing to return fire."

"Remember what I said, Serenity. Pull back your ships," Saturn murmured before she vanished in a swirl of purple light.

Was she running? Serenity clenched her jaw so tightly that it hurt. But then Saturn reappeared in front of the Imperial Fleet, the Silence Glaive held at her side. A hush fell over the command deck.

"Fall back," Serenity said and then again more strongly as even Mars froze. "Tell all ships to fall back, now! Leave this battle to Saturn."

The helmsman started to bring the ship around, but already the first visible signs of the demonic counter attack were appearing. They were out of time.

"Cease turning," Mars ordered. "There's isn't enough time. Divert all power to the retro thrusters!"

As the ship finally began to lurch backward, the demonic fleet launched its counter attack. Great clouds of puce coloured energy poured from the leading demonic ships, bathing the battlefield in their sickly glow. Smaller, but brighter lances of black and red energy shot forward from the smaller craft, along with a host of living projectiles filled with acid and explosives.

"They're targeting her!" one of the officers shouted. "The demonic fleet is targeting Saturn!"

Serenity scanned the tactical display. It was true. Somehow, the demons must have recognised the threat that Saturn posed and so they were concentrating all of their firepower on her in an attempt to prevent her from interfering. Yet on the main screen, Saturn had still not made any move to defend herself. Could she really be that powerful? Despite the carefully controlled temperature of the command deck, Serenity found herself shivering. She couldn't wait to find out.

At last, Saturn lifted the Silence Glaive and thrust it out in front of her. Violet light flowed down the length of the weapon and the space in front of her began to ripple before it came apart with a soundless shriek that nevertheless drove every piece of equipment on the command deck insane. Sparks flew from one console to another and the telemetry on the tactical display jittered wildly.

"What is that?" Serenity barked. "What is she doing?"

"It might be a shield," one of the officers offered. "But I can't seem to get any energy readings from it. It's like it's not even there."

"Because it isn't." Pluto stepped forward and Serenity shifted to give the Guardian of Time a better view of the main screen. "Look at the readings. That's not a shield – it's a cut. She used the Silence Glaive to cut the space in front of her."

"What do you mean?" Serenity asked. Pluto's position required an excellent grasp of science and logic and the ruby-eyed woman was easily a match for even Mercury, who was usually considered the most intelligent of the senshi. Thus it wasn't surprising that Pluto alone seemed to have some idea of what was going on.

"Just watch," Pluto said. "And you'll see what I mean."

The wave of attacks from the demonic fleet struck the space in front of Saturn and for an instant, the brilliance of their combined detonation was blinding. The shockwave swept around Saturn and into the Imperial Fleet and Serenity had to catch hold of the railing to keep from falling. Pluto was less fortunate as one of the panels in the roof came loose and caught her on the forehead, leaving a long cut along her brow. When the ship finally stopped shaking and the explosions faded, Saturn was still there, and apparently, completely unharmed.

"How?" Serenity asked.

"As I said, she cut the space in front of her." Pluto wiped some blood off her brow. She was speaking quickly now, her tone one that Serenity knew she only ever used when she was intellectually engaged, her mind leaping to assess what she was seeing. "The Silence Glaive is supposed to be able to cut through anything, even the fabric of reality itself. By cutting the fabric of reality in front of herself, Saturn made it impossible for any of the attacks to reach her. Simply put, the attacks could not reach her because in front of her, in the area cut by the Silence Glaive, there was _nothing_. That is, reality ceased to exist in front of her, rendering it impossible for any form of energy to proceed."

Serenity nodded slowly. Such incredible power! The legends didn't even begin to do Saturn justice. Now, more than ever, she knew that she just had to find a way to control Saturn.

"We're detecting a massive energy surge from Saturn!"

Pluto shivered. "She's going to attack now." She slanted a look at Serenity and Mars. "We should divert all power to the shields."

"All power to the shields!" Mars ordered. "All hands, brace for impact."

There was a flash of deep purple from Saturn before the entire centre of the demonic fleet dissolved into a cloud of gore. Lilac ribbons tore at the demonic ships caught in the blast and once again, reality shuddered as the attack intensified, the demonic ships twisting and warping and then imploding as though caught in a highly localised black hole before the effect reversed and they were shredded and tossed outward, already disintegrating.

An awed quiet settled over the command deck.

"No mortal should be able to that…" Mars breathed. "No senshi should ever have that much power…"

As a second purple flash hit the left flank of the demonic fleet, the main screen went out, along with every other piece of machinery or magic on board the ship. In the sudden darkness, panic swept over the command deck and Serenity raised her voice to call for calm. Only no sound left her lips. Her voice died in her throat and suddenly it was hard to even think. A soundless roar filled her ears and she dropped to her knees. Layer after layer after layer of the world peeled away leaving her bare and alone, staring into an endless abyss of haunted shadows where the only sound was a single, pitch-perfect note of absolute silence.

She screamed.

And then the silence lifted and the lights came back on. Serenity looked around. She wasn't on her knees. All around her, she could see the same bewildered looks of half-crazed terror on the faces of the crew. Suddenly, the main screen came back to life and she jerked away as the angry hiss of static filled the command deck. It was almost as though she could see Saturn in the twisting mass of black and white lines that crawled across the screen.

A few seconds later, the screen stabilised and she was once more looking out at the demonic fleet, or at least what was left of it. In the short time that the silence had overtaken her, Saturn had annihilated the demons. There was almost no debris left from the battle, but what little remained only highlighted the sheer ferocity of Saturn's assault. A mangled demonic ship limped past the purple-haired woman and she cleaved right through it with little more than a gesture of the Silence Glaive. A cloud of blood filled the space beside her and all around the command deck, people made the sign against evil.

"Scan the area," Serenity said softly.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but our sensors can't pick up anything." The officer lowered his head. "I think that whatever Saturn… did… its interfering with our sensors."

"I see." Serenity looked at Mars. "Mars, can you feel any of the demons?"

The senshi shook her head. "No. I can't feel any of them at all. It's just so… quiet." She trembled.

Serenity could hardly fault Mars for her loss of composure. Only centuries of practice allowed her to remain calm even as she considered the many possibilities. If she could get Saturn under her control, then she could easily become the greatest empress in the Lunar Empire's history. For millennia dissidents and other rebels had managed to elude destruction but with Saturn that could change. She wouldn't even need to kill them. Just a demonstration of Saturn's power should be enough to convince even the most determined rebels of the futility of resisting the Lunar Empire.

But that was only the beginning. Serenity's mind raced, tantalised by the possibilities. For centuries, the Empire's scientists had pursued the development of technologies that would allow for interstellar travel without the need to construct hyperspace tunnels beforehand. However such attempts were fraught with peril. What if they encountered a race more powerful than their own, one with similar dreams of conquest? Serenity smirked. Saturn would be the ultimate trump card. Indeed, if what Pluto had said about the Silence Glaive's power to cut reality was even remotely accurate then the purple-eyed woman might even provide the missing pieces to the puzzle of interstellar travel.

She was shaken from her thoughts by another brief flash of purple light. Saturn vanished from the main screen and reappeared on the command deck. A tense hush fell over the command deck as though the crew were afraid even to breathe, lest Saturn look at them.

"Lady Saturn," Serenity intoned formally as she bowed slightly. "You have the thanks of the entire Lunar Empire for your deeds today."

Saturn turned her head slowly and Serenity struggled not to flinch away from what she saw smouldering in those violet eyes. "Keep your thanks." And then Saturn was moving toward the doors of the command deck, most likely to return to the quarters that had been given to her. However, she had taken only a few steps before she stopped and turned, this time to look at Pluto. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the blood on the green haired woman's brow. "You are hurt."

Serenity watched in fascination as Pluto nodded, meeting Saturn's eyes. Interestingingly, Pluto seemed more cautious than actually afraid. "It is nothing," Pluto said. "A panel from the roof struck me."

Faster than anyone could see, Saturn's hand shot out and caught Pluto by the chin. Serenity instinctively loosened the hold she held on her power in preparation for battle. Perhaps she could not prevent Saturn from killing Pluto, but she would use the time that Pluto's death bought wisely. Beside her, Mars likewise called upon her power, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

And then the oddest thing happened. Rather than twisting Pluto's head violently to one side to break her neck, Saturn instead let one hand glide up to the cut on Pluto's brow. A soft amethyst glow formed around her hand and Pluto let out a sigh. When Saturn pulled her hand away, the blood on Pluto's brow was gone, along with the wound.

"You should be more careful, Pluto. After all, you still haven't fulfilled your side of our bargain." Finally pulling away from Pluto, Saturn left the command deck.

As the command deck gradually returned to normal Serenity mulled over Saturn's conduct. Saturn's words to Pluto had been blunt and her tone almost harsh, yet Serenity was certain that for just a moment, Saturn's eyes had softened. Serenity smiled thinly. Perhaps she'd been thinking about things the wrong way. Saturn's power was truly monstrous, and Saturn could very easily be a monster herself, but even monsters could get lonely and Saturn had been alone for a very, very long time. She glanced at Pluto out of the corner of her eye. The Guardian of Time was running her fingers along her brow with a thoughtful expression on her face. Yes, Serenity thought, maybe it was time for the monster to find a friend.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

I thought it was about time for another jaunt back to the Lunar Empire. As with one of the earlier chapters on the Lunar Empire, this chapter is written mostly from Serenity's point of view. A good ruler is not necessarily a good person and I think it is important to try and get across the sort of mindset that Serenity had because it influences how the Lunar Empire itself functions. She also provides a different perspective on two characters, Saturn and Pluto, who are already familiar in other contexts.

Another reason I wanted to get back to the Lunar Empire is because space ships are awesome. Yes, that is pretty shallow, but there's nothing quite like writing a battle in space and the chance of slipping one into a Sailor Moon story was too good to pass up. Can you imagine Usagi as the commander of an entire fleet?

Finally, with regards to updates, real life is likely to become quite busy over the next few months for me, which will almost certainly make updating more difficult. However, rest assured, I will continue to update as best I can. I have no intention of abandoning this.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

It was well past midnight when Setsuna heard a sound come from Hotaru's window. She watched from the shadows around Hotaru's bed as the younger woman climbed over the windowsill. Silvered in the pale, tremulous light of the moon, Hotaru was dressed in her senshi uniform and Setsuna remained silent as she stumbled clumsily toward the bathroom.

"Hotaru."

The younger woman's name had scarcely left her lips, before Setunsa found herself staring down the pitch black length of the Silence Glaive. Were the situation any different, she'd almost have found the turn of events amusing. Clearly, she thought, a ghost of a smile on her lips, it was not prudent to surprise the wielder of one of the most powerful weapons in the solar system.

Her amusement did not last long as two things came to her attention. The first was the tremor that ran through the glaive, or rather the arms that held it. The second was the look on Hotaru's face, the expression revealed by the shallow light that filtered underneath the bedroom door.

Pain.

It was there, so clear in the almost-glitter of tears in Hotaru's eyes, that Setsuna almost wept herself. Wordlessly, she took the shaft of the Silence Glaive in one hand – how visibly Hotaru trembled as she did this – and nudged the weapon aside. There was no doubt in her mind now that even though the person in front of her wore the uniform of Sailor Saturn, it was Hotaru and not Saturn. Even at the end, Saturn would never have allowed her to see such weakness.

Before Hotaru could retreat, and given the look of near panic in her eyes, it was definitely a possibility, Setsuna tugged the younger woman down onto the bed beside her. Hotaru gave a small cry of shock and then stilled instantly as Setsuna wrapped her arms around her. The Silence Glaive slipped from suddenly numb fingers and clattered to the ground. It vanished a moment later, but not before it left a long, straight cut along the floor.

Setsuna met Hotaru's gaze and then, with a gentle shake of her head, put one finger against Hotaru's lips.

"Shhh."

That seemed to break something inside Hotaru, for suddenly her arms were wrapped around Setsuna's middle and her head was pressed against Setsuna's chest. A soft sigh left Setsuna's lips as she held Hotaru. The younger woman trembled and whimpered and made quiet, barely audible sounds of suffering. Yet there were no tears. It was almost like Hotaru refused to let herself cry. Instead, Hotaru only clung tighter and tighter as though Setsuna was her only anchor in a world that no longer made any sense.

"It's alright," Setsuna murmured absently as she ran one hand through Hotaru's hair. There would time to ask questions later, time to wonder just why Hotaru had snuck in and why, even as Setsuna began to rock her gently back and forth, she remained in her senshi uniform.

Finally, Setsuna eased Hotaru up on to her feet and led her into the bathroom. "Hotaru," she said softly as she watched her for any signs of distress. "I need you transform out of your senshi uniform."

Still latched around Setsuna's waist, Hotaru shook her head. "No. I won't. You'll hate me."

Setsuna loosened Hotaru's grip slightly and tilted the younger woman's chin up. She was glad now that she hadn't succumbed to the urge to drown herself in liquor after she'd come home to find Hotaru missing. "I have never hated you, Hotaru, and I never will. I mean that." She paused and then added quietly, "I never hated Saturn either, you know. So please, even if I'm not sure that I deserve it after how I've handled things so far, please just trust me and transform back. I will not hate you."

Hesitantly, Hotaru reversed her transformation and even though she'd braced herself, Setsuna could still only barely suppress a gasp. Hotaru's clothes were practically shredded and through the tattered garments she could make out dozens of cuts and bruises. That the injuries still looked this bad despite what must have been hours under the healing influence of her transformation made her want to retch. Just how bad had they been to begin with?

Yet that was not the worst of it. No, that would be the blood. It was all over Hotaru, and no small amount of it was even splattered in her hair. Setsuna closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she opened them again. Hotaru's forearms were covered in dried blood, a lurid, ugly brown-red, and her hands were almost completely covered in the stuff. The younger woman had somehow torn almost all of the skin off her knuckles. Setsuna swallowed thickly. Some of the blood was undoubtedly Hotaru's, but there was just too much for it all to belong to her. That of course, made Setsuna wonder just who the rest of it belonged to. However such questions would have to wait. Right now, there were other, more pressing matters to attend to.

"Alright," Setsuna said as she once again met Hotaru's violet gaze. "I won't ask you what happened. I'm going to do what I should have done from the start. I'm going to trust you and if you want to tell me then you can. Okay?"

Hotaru nodded silently.

"Good, now take off your clothes. We need to get you cleaned up."

Hotaru gaped at Setsuna and squawked incoherently as a deep blush spread across her features. Setsuna welcomed the expression and gave silent thanks to the centuries of practice that let her say such things with a completely straight face. If Hotaru could still blush, she wasn't completely broken, at least, not yet.

"Hotaru you're not in any condition to look after yourself." That much was true. Setsuna was sure that without her hands around her, Hotaru would already have collapsed. "You know that I can't leave you as you are. Just take off your shirt and pants, okay?" Besides, Setsuna added mentally, this wouldn't be the first time she'd had to clean Sailor Saturn up after she'd gotten into a fight. Just thinking about the last time that Saturn had been too injured to look after herself sent a chill through her.

Cheeks still a rosy pink, Hotaru feebly tried to undo the buttons of her shirt. Setsuna bit her lip as she watched the younger woman's trembling hands make a mess of what would normally be a trivially easy task. Finally, Hotaru looked up at her, eyes wide and bright and deeply ashamed.

"I… I can't… I mean…" Hotaru lowered her head. "Can you help me?"

Setsuna nodded gently and reached forward to undo the buttons herself. With each button that came undone, she felt the tremors that ran through Hotaru grow stronger. By the time she pulled the tattered garment away, Hotaru could scarcely stand.

"Hotaru, I need you to stand up a moment longer and then you can sit down, okay? But first you need to take off your pants."

Hotaru nodded and Setsuna could see that by now the younger woman was too tired to be embarrassed. As soon as Hotaru's pants were off, Setsuna led her to a stool beside the furo **(A/N: A furo is a Japanese style bath)**. Setsuna paused for a moment and then began to remove some of her own clothing. Hotaru was in no state to bathe herself and Setsuna had no desire to soak her own clothing. As she took off her shirt and put it to one side, Setsuna studied Hotaru out of the corner of her eye.

It was strange, really, that despite the differences in lifestyle, Hotaru was a spitting image of Saturn. True, she wasn't quite as tall and her body didn't yet have the same level of toned, lethal grace to it, but she was still a teenager, albeit nearly at the end of that phase, whereas Saturn had been a woman in her prime. A sad smile crossed her face. Hotaru had a few years of growing yet to catch up to Saturn, and Setsuna was determined to make sure she got them.

Setsuna looked around for a bucket. There was one in the furo and she filled it with warm water before she began what promised to be the long process of cleaning Hotaru off. The first thing she did was to pour some of the water over Hotaru's head. The water cascaded over the younger woman's head and splashed down onto the tiles of the bathroom floor.

For a few moments the only sounds in the bathroom were the gurgle of the drain and the chatter of Hotaru's teeth despite the warmth of the water. As the water dripped down off Hotaru's body, it formed into little pink rivers that trickled toward the drain. Silently, Setsuna poured some more water over Hotaru's head.

Slowly, the blood caked onto Hotaru's hair and face began to fall away and Setsuna breathed a sigh of relief. Hotaru would feel much better once it was gone. Having blood on your face could make you feel monstrous and inhuman and right now, Hotaru desperately needed to feel human. Gently taking a small towel in one hand, Setsuna dipped it into the bucket and then ran it along the curves and planes of Hotaru's face. She started with the purple-haired woman's forehead and made her way down along across the bridge of her nose. Hotaru's eyes fluttered shut as Setsuna swept the towel across her cheeks in small circular motions before she moved on to her brow and then finally her chin and lips.

More than once Setsuna felt Hotaru tremble beneath her touch as she pressed perhaps a fraction too strongly on a bruise or cut. The warm water drew a ragged hiss from Hotaru as she dabbed at one particularly nasty graze along her forehead. Setsuna made a quiet sound of apology and comfort and eased her feather-light touch still lighter. Throughout it all, Hotaru's eyes remained shut and were it not for the occasional faint hitch in her breathing, Setsuna might almost have thought she was asleep.

Once she'd cleaned off Hotaru's face, she began the task of cleaning off the rest of her. Realising just how tense the other woman still was, Setsuna decided to deal with Hotaru's arms and hands next. She started with the shoulders and worked her way down from there. Hotaru let out a whimper as she ran the towel along one shoulder and Setsuna had to bit back a snarl as she took in the large purple bruise that marred the normally pristine flesh. Softly, she ran her fingers along Hotaru's shoulder checking to see if the joint was broken, but thankfully it seemed to be intact.

Hotaru's arms were easier to clean, and were it not for the fact that she had to stop to refill the bucket, Setsuna probably would have had them finished in mere moments. Yet as Setsuna reached for Hotaru's hands, the violet-eyed woman flinched away and pressed them to her body.

"Hotaru, I need to clean your hands." Hotaru shook her head and clutched her hands closer to her sides and Setsuna felt her heart clench at seeing the young woman she'd helped raise reduced to such a state. "Please, Hotaru."

Slowly, Hotaru extended her left hand and with a gentleness and reverence that surprised her, Setsuna took it and cradled it in one of her own. It was strange, it seemed like only yesterday she'd been holding this same hand through walks in the park and now their hands were almost the same size. Another memory, one of Saturn, came unbidden. These same hands striking with incredible force and accuracy, these same hands tearing through flesh and steel like paper.

Setsuna shook the memory away and ran the small towel along the back of Hotaru's hands. She moved the towel in small circles and little by little the blood came away. There was a lot of it. Shifting her grip slightly, she rubbed the towel along Hotaru's palm, careful to follow the shallow lines and folds that creased it. The fingers were next, each one long and slender yet with a subtle strength. She cleaned each finger and the gaps between them as gently as she could, but even the lightest of touches couldn't stop some of the water from the towel from slipping down onto the raw skin of Hotaru's knuckles. Each drop drew a small, sharp gasp from Hotaru and Setsuna again murmured an apology.

The ends of the fingers were next and Setsuna dabbed gently at first the pads of the fingers before she began to work the dried blood out from under Hotaru's fingernails. Looking up for the first time in a while, she was surprised to see that Hotaru was watching her with an unreadable expression. Hotaru probably expected her to show disgust or horror, but Setsuna merely smiled softly and began the final step of cleaning Hotaru's left hand. She worked the small towel as gently as she could over the raw flesh of Hotaru's knuckles and she had to pause to wring the towel out several times, there was that much blood there. Once she was done, she probed the hand gently, pushing and pulling it in different directions. She nodded, satisfied. Despite the bruising and the obvious pain that Hotaru was in, the hand didn't seem to be broken. Setsuna knew very well just how easy it was to break a hand hitting someone.

Setsuna looked up again and Hotaru's expression was still the same. That wouldn't do. A small smile worked its way across her face as she remembered something she used to do for Hotaru. When Hotaru had been young, she'd usually gone to Michiru for care if she hurt herself. The aqua-haired woman had treated each wound, no matter how small or innocuous, with the appropriate level of motherly concern and after administering whatever aid was required, she'd always kissed it better. The little kiss at the end, Setsuna thought, had always done more good than any bandaid or bandage.

Naturally, that left their little family in something of a bind when Michiru was away. For all that Haruka loved Hotaru, she had chosen to adopt a much more fatherly outlook. And fathers did not kiss things better. So when Michiru was away, it was up to Setsuna to kiss things better. True, she might have felt silly doing it, and no six year old had ever died of a skinned knee, but she'd never had the heart to refuse Hotaru anything.

Feeling as silly as ever, Setsuna ran her lips over Hotaru's knuckles. Hotaru stiffened in surprise at the faint, ghost-like touch, but then she smiled and Setsuna knew that no matter how silly she looked, it was still worth it.

"Come on," Setsuna whispered. "Give me your other hand."

Setsuna did Hotaru's right hand in much the same manner as the left. She was a little surprised to find that the damage was almost identical across both hands. It seemed that Saturn's ambidexterity was something that had begun to cross over to Hotaru, as well. The rest of Hotaru's body followed in short order, but not without some awkwardness, first when Setsuna had to remove the younger woman's bra and then again when she had to remove her underwear.

As Setsuna ran the small towel over Hotaru's body, she felt the burning feeling in the back of her throat grow stronger. Each bruise, each cut, each graze was another hammer blow on her conscience. In no small way, she was responsible for what had happened to Hotaru. If she had foreseen things, or even handled them better when they first began, Hotaru would never have suffered as she had. Still, that was the past, and Setsuna of all people understood the danger of dwelling on the past. All that she could do now was help Hotaru and as the tension finally began to ease from the younger woman's frame, she finally began to relax, as well.

Hotaru made a quiet sound of protest when Setsuna rose, but Setsuna waved it off. "We need to fix your hair. I'm just going to get the shampoo and conditioner."

It was a little surreal, actually, shampooing Hotaru's hair with the bathroom tiles stained a light pink, but the normalcy of the act was something that they both sorely needed. She massaged the shampoo into the younger woman's hair and then washed it out, before she put in the conditioner. She left the conditioner in for a few moments and watched the bubbles from the shampoo crawl across the blood-tinged floor. Later, when Hotaru was asleep or otherwise occupied, she'd have to come back with bleach. Blood had a way of sticking.

Finally, she rinsed the conditioner out and she heard a whisper of a sigh escape Hotaru's lips as the scent of lilacs filled the air from the shampoo and conditioner. Hotaru had liked lilacs for as long as she could remember, and unbeknownst to the young woman, it was something that she shared with Saturn. Setsuna savoured the scent for another heartbeat and then moved to start the furo. She filled it with hot water and eased Hotaru into it as gently as she could. As the young woman reclined, eyes closed, in the furo, Setsuna quickly cleaned herself before she joined Hotaru in the furo.

Hotaru immediately opened her mouth to speak, but again Setsuna stopped her. "Don't feel that you have to speak just yet." She closed her eyes and leaned back against the edge of the furo. "Take a few moments to relax and gather your thoughts. Then, if you want, you can tell me what happened."

A few moments stretched into a few minutes and Setsuna found herself beginning to slip off. It was only when she was on the cusp of sleep, lulled by the pleasant heat of the water and the rhythmic cadence of their breathing, that Hotaru began to talk. Setsuna could feel the weight of Hotaru's gaze upon her, but let own eyes remained closed. She was certain that opening them would only make it harder for Hotaru to tell her story. Besides, it wasn't like she needed to see Hotaru to read the younger woman's emotions. They were there in every word that the other woman spoke, in each uncomfortable pause and hitch of breath. It was hard enough for Hotaru to bare herself emotionally and psychologically. Setsuna felt no need to make it even harder for her by staring at her the whole time, as well.

Hotaru told her everything. She started with what happened on the train and Setsuna felt the dull ache in her chest blossom into agony as Hotaru described in an almost mechanical voice, the beating that she'd endured. Nausea welled up again when Hotaru shared first her opponent's and then Saturn's words. And though Setsuna kept her face calm, she died a little on the inside when Hotaru gave her a full, bloody account of what she'd done to her opponent.

Beneath the water, Setsuna felt her hands twitch and then clench into fists. She knew what it was like to hit someone until her knuckles were raw and bleeding and she knew that Saturn had done even more brutal things. She had always hoped that Hotaru would never know what such things felt like. A futile hope, perhaps, but one she would have given almost anything for.

At last Hotaru was finished and Setsuna opened her eyes slowly. Hotaru was on the verge of tears and was fighting hard to keep them at bay. Once again guilt and self-loathing tugged at Setsuna's resolve. Frankly, she didn't care if Hotaru bawled her eyes out. It would have been far worse if Hotaru had felt nothing at all.

"You're wondering if I hate you, aren't you?" Setsuna murmured. The water was hot and she wondered if perhaps she hadn't been in the furo for too long. She felt light, drowsy, almost drunk. "You shouldn't worry. I don't hate you."

She watched as Hotaru searched her eyes for some evidence of a lie. That Hotaru felt the need to actually check pained her, but Setsuna was confident that the younger woman wouldn't see anything but the truth. She really didn't hate her. A moment later, apparently satisfied, Hotaru sagged with relief.

Setsuna ran one hand through the water and watched the ripples spread as she wondered whether or not she should say anything else. A memory from another time came to mind and she smiled sadly. She'd had a similar conversation with Saturn once.

"It's a little unfair, isn't it, how I seem to know so much about your past but you know almost nothing of mine." Setsuna closed her eyes and leaned back. She let the darkness behind her closed eyelids take her back to another time and place. "I wasn't always Pluto, you know. There was someone else before me."

"Setsuna, why are you telling me this?" Hotaru asked in a whisper.

"I don't know. Perhaps I just want you to understand. It's been such a long time since anyone has known about my past and I suppose you've a right to it, in a way." Setsuna swallowed thickly and wished that she had something to stop the burning in the back of her throat. "During the Lunar Empire, senshi usually trained their successors. Because senshi tended to be members of the royal family, this meant that most senshi were trained either by their mother or by an aunt. Pluto was a little different.

"I was seven years old when the old Pluto came and told me that I would be her successor. I was a princess, but the youngest of four, so my selection came as something of a surprise." Setsuna paused and chuckled softly. "I was stupid, you know. I thought that my life was perfect. Back then Pluto was left largely to its own devices, our loyalty to the Moon unquestioned. We were a long-lived people and we were wise enough to see that fighting the Lunar Empire would only lead to our destruction. Instead we played along and manoeuvred our way into a position of trust. As the youngest daughter no one expected anything of me. All I had to do was smile and look pretty every now and then and aside from that I could do whatever I wanted. If I wanted to play with dolls, I could do that. If I wanted to learn how to ride a horse, I could do that. Whatever I wanted, whatever I desired, I could have. I was only seven, but I thought that my life would never change. That it would always be perfect.

"But all of that changed when I was chosen to be the next Pluto. Being Pluto means being more than just another senshi. You live a very, very long time and so you don't just watch over the Gates of Time, you have to guide generation after generation of senshi. You also have to serve as one the Empress' highest-ranking advisors. It is, needless to say, a stressful position." Setsuna gave a hollow, slightly hysterical laugh. "I don't think a Pluto has ever retired. We've all either died in battle, gone insane, or committed suicide. It's actually rather depressing. It's almost like each Pluto just trains a replacement and then goes looking for death."

Hotaru said nothing, but Setsuna could read the question in her eyes. Would she be any different?

"I told you, didn't I, how most senshi were trained either by their mother or by an aunt? That might seem a little odd, but it was good, in a way. Training for senshi was… brutal, to put it lightly. At least a mother or an aunt usually understood and cared for the senshi in training enough to know when to push and when to pull back." Setsuna's eyes gleamed bloody crimson. "The Pluto who taught me was my great, great grandmother. I'd never met her before and as far as I knew, she'd never met me until the day she marched in and proclaimed me as her successor. It didn't take long for me to realise that she didn't see me as family. I was nothing more than her successor, her way out of centuries of service.

"She took me from the palace to her own quarters just outside the capital city. Training wasn't just about physical combat. I had to know about science, art, literature, diplomacy, and so many other things I'd never even considered until then. She told me that a Pluto had to be perfect. A Pluto had to be able to manipulate others with ease but resist being manipulated in turn. A Pluto had to be strong enough to guide the senshi as required and wise enough to advise Serenity. Above all, a Pluto had to be able to project utmost loyalty to the Empire while retaining loyalty only to herself and her planet. I was with her for fourteen years and the only times she ever let me interact with anyone else were to see if I'd learned my lessons properly. Failure, as you can imagine, was not tolerated lightly and I think those days broke something in me that I've never been able to piece back together.

"At the end of the fourteenth year I found out that a Pluto usually has fifty years to learn her post. That might sound like a lot, but fifty years was nothing for a Plutonian, and certainly not very long for the next Sailor Pluto. When I found out, I confronted her and do you know what she did? She laughed in my face. She called me a prodigy and told me to hurry up because she was sick and tired of being Pluto." Setsuna stared down at her hands. They were clean, too clean. "Fourteen years I'd suffered, fourteen years away from my family and friends because she was too stupid and selfish to do things right. I'd never hated anyone or anything more in my life. I hit her, Hotaru, and she let me and so I kept right on hitting her. I think I laughed the whole time. Finally, she must have gotten sick of it, because she threw me off and then knocked me out. When I came to, I found out that it was too late. She'd gone off and gotten herself killed. Death was her only out and with me all but ready to take over, she wasn't the least bit ashamed to take it."

Setsuna stopped as Hotaru reached out and squeezed her hand. It was a small thing, the tiniest of gestures really, but Setsuna was inordinately grateful for it. She squeezed back.

"After that I became Pluto. And as long-lived as my family was, I watched them die. My parents died first and then my siblings and each time a little bit of my heart died with them. After that, my nieces and nephews died and then their children after them. Somewhere along the line I just stopped caring. They weren't my family anymore, just the last lingering shadows of people I had loved. I began to understand why the old Pluto had done what she had done. And so I began to wait for the next Pluto to arrive." Setsuna smiled bitterly. "I even worked out a way to get my successor trained in only ten years.

"But then when the moment came, I couldn't do it. I strode into the palace and I looked into the eyes of the girl who was supposed to succeed me. I saw a girl who'd never known anything but decency and love, a girl who could be anything she put her mind to." Something close to a sob worked its way past Setsuna's lips. "I saw myself and I couldn't do it. I left the palace alone and I've been the senshi of Pluto ever since."

Setsuna drew in a ragged breath. "Apart from Saturn, I think the only one who ever understood was Serenity. The Empress lived a long time and the two of us must have seen several centuries worth of senshi go by. Still, she died, and so I served her daughter instead. It was her daughter who made me see just how monstrous the Lunar Empire was and even then there was so little I could do to change it. Instead all I had were centuries of guilt and loneliness and the understanding that anything I did would only make things worse. I think that's what finally broke my predecessor. It made me hate her even more for choosing me."

"Setsuna, why are you telling me this?" Hotaru asked.

Setsuna shrugged. "Like I said, I'm not sure, but there's something you need to understand." She let her gaze harden a fraction; let a bit of Pluto slip onto her features. "Sometimes there are no easy answers. My predecessor chose me because at least on some level she knew that I could bear the burden she would give me. A weak Pluto would have been disastrous and as much as I hate her, I can't say she made the wrong decision. After all, I'm still here, aren't I?" Setsuna sighed. "Sometimes all you can do is ask yourself why you're doing what you're doing and if the answer is good enough, maybe it doesn't matter if it's a little horrible. What that man said to you when he was beating you, Hotaru, if I'd been in your place and he threatened you, Haruka, and Michiru like that, I'd have killed him. Maybe not with my fists, but I'd have killed him all the same. There are things that can make monster out of any of us, Hotaru, any of us."

Hotaru nodded slowly, but her eyes were still uncertain. "But Usagi wouldn't have…"

"Trust me when I say this," Setsuna whispered. "But good people can do monstrous things and even monsters can do good. As I said, it's all about why. I've lived a long time and I've seen all sorts of things. Do you really think that if push came to shove, Usagi wouldn't kill to keep Mamoru safe? That she wouldn't kill if it meant keeping any of us safe." Setsuna shook her head. "Sometimes the only way we can fight monsters is to become, at least for a little while, monsters ourselves. Just remember, Hotaru, you aren't doing this alone. You shouldn't have to bear all of this on your own."

Slowly, Hotaru nodded and Setsuna let herself go limp. The urge to just sink beneath the water and drown was almost overwhelming. She sighed. Like it would be that easy. Besides, it was time to get out of the furo. The water was now only lukewarm at best. She helped Hotaru out of the bath and the two of them showered quickly. After that, she settled Hotaru into her bed and finally turned to leave. No doubt she would have a lot of explaining to do to Haruka and Michiru come morning.

However as she turned to go, Hotaru reached out and stopped her with one hand.

"Can you stay with me, at least, just for tonight?" Hotaru's voice was so very, very small. "I don't want to be alone."

Setsuna paused on the verge of refusal. She knew that come morning she would regret it, but still, she could not find it in her to refuse Hotaru. "Alright, but only for tonight." And with that she settled under the blankets beside the younger woman.

They stayed like that for a few minutes and Setsuna could feel Hotaru's eyes on her in the darkness. She rolled over and met the younger woman's gaze. There was another question there, another plea better left unspoken. Silently, she reached out and pulled Hotaru close, wrapping her arms around her. The sudden contact brought a quiet yelp from Hotaru, but she relaxed almost instantly. A few minutes later, Hotaru was asleep.

But sleep did not come so easily for Setsuna. She stayed awake for a long time thinking over Hotaru's words and her own. Part of her was disgusted at burdening the younger woman with her own grief, but strangely, she got the impression that it was the opposite. Hotaru had seemed slightly glad that she wasn't the only one with a dark past, as though their suffering was a secret that only the two of them shared. It was true, in a twisted sort of way that Haruka and Michiru would never be able to understand what a burden the past could be, at least not in the way that she and Hotaru did.

More disturbing still was the idea that there was a group out there that actually wanted Saturn to reawaken and that they were willing to use force to do so. They must need her for something, but what? And she didn't know what to make of the fact that the man who'd attacked Hotaru had worn what sounded like the uniform of the Saturnian Royal Guard. What a mess.

Against her side, Setsuna felt Hotaru shift and as the first, faint rays of the dawn trickled through the windows, Setsuna felt herself slip off into sleep. Her last thought brought a smile to her face. It was funny, how even after all the years that had passed Hotaru and Saturn's hair still smelled the same.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

First of all, let me say that this was one of those chapters that I kind of liked and hated at the same time. It was, for one, very difficult to get right. Any chapter in which one character bathes another can go horribly wrong fairly easily and in fairly spectacular fashion. So I guess, the question is: why write it? Firstly, it was my way of (partially) resolving the mess that Hotaru found herself in after the fight on the train. It was also a way of showing Setsuna trying to deal with things in a more understanding way, because she definitely could have handled things better earlier on, and I think she's smart enough to realise that.

However, the main reason I wrote this scene is because like with many things, the guts of any relationship are in the details. Letting someone else bathe you and look after you is an incredibly intimate thing. That Hotaru is willing to let Setsuna do this for her is not a coincidence. This was also the reason I found this chapter difficult to write. It can be a lot harder to keep things interesting when there aren't gigantic space battles involved (see last chapter). Subtlety and understatement are important character development tools, but are often much harder to wield than shock and awe. Setsuna's past, or what little I've mentioned of it here, was another thing that was interesting to write. I've always wondered just what sort of upbringing could have produced someone who can, at times be really quite cold, and at others quite caring. Needless to say, the Lunar Empire was not a place where kittens and puppies frolicked in fields of daisies with rainbows in the background.

On another note, this update comes after around a fortnight. There are at least two reasons for that. First, as I mentioned last chapter, real life is now much busier. Still, I have been trying to make time to keep writing, because it is something that I enjoy. Second, my younger sister came back after a year overseas. We are quite close so there was much rejoicing and celebrating and not all that much writing going on.

Also, note that rather than have a translation note at the end about 'furo' I put it in the main body of the story. I felt that having it at the end would be awkward, given that a great deal of the chapter won't make much sense (or at the very least would be very confusing) if someone didn't know what a furo actually was.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

She looked out the window and watched the arid, broken landscape of the Great Rift sweep past far below them. Beneath her, she felt the small transport she was on tremble and shake as it fought its way through the rough winds that ruled the skies above the seemingly endless scar that marred the dark perfection of Saturn's surface.

"You are nervous."

As always, her master's voice was calm and controlled. She shifted away from the window and quickly checked over the boxes stored in the back of the transport. The boxes held not only weapons, but also clothes, and other equipment that they might need during their stay in Requiem City. Only when she was sure that the boxes were secure did she return to the cockpit where her master sat at the controls of the transport.

"Why are you nervous?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the sky in front of them. Even so, she could feel the weight of his attention on her and she had to force herself not to fidget. It seemed that no matter how many things she killed she would always, in some way, be the same little girl he'd found in the ruins of a slaughtered village. The thought was both troubling and comforting at the same time.

"It has been a long time since I've left the Rift," she said softly as she settled into the co-pilot's chair. The chair adjusted to her height and weight instantly and she let her eyes slip shut. "I don't think that I'll remember how to act."

He slanted a look at her. "That is part of the reason that we are going. If you wish to have your revenge, you cannot hope to achieve it alone. Besides, I have no doubt that you will soon adjust. You are a survivor and a survivor adapts."

She supposed that much was true. When she'd first arrived in the Rift, she hadn't thought she could ever actually kill something. Now, she barely blinked when she killed. In fact, killing had become a little too easy, a little too automatic for her. Still, even if she could adjust her behaviour there were others things to worry about, such as her clothing.

Instead of the furs and skins she'd grown used to she was wearing what seemed like a slight variation of his usual outfit. She wore black trousers of some soft yet sturdy material that was flexible enough to never hinder her movements. There was a black cloak too, long like his, and made of the same, almost shadow-like cloth. The only real variation was her long sleeved blouse. Instead of black it was a dark purple, the colour of the horizon several hours shy of dawn. The colour was oddly comforting. Her mother's eyes had been that colour, and so were hers.

"I didn't ask earlier, but why did you give me these clothes?" she said.

He continued to stare out of the cockpit. "Requiem City is the closest major city to the Great Rift. The countless villages and towns that live in its shadow often hire bounty hunter's to deal with the more dangerous creatures."

"Shouldn't the city dispatch soldiers for that?" she asked.

He shook his head. "There are too many towns and villages to make stationing soldiers in each of them affordable. It is cheaper for the city to simply arrange for specialist bounty hunters whenever the creatures of the Rift become overly aggressive." His lips drew into a thin line. "I am known in the city as a hunter, of sorts. When they see how you are dressed they will simply assume that you are my apprentice."

She nodded and felt her lips curve into a grimace. Somehow she wasn't surprised that money was the motivation for not stationing soldiers in each town and village. How might things have turned out if there had been soldiers there when her village had been attacked? Sighing, she shoved the thought aside. It wouldn't have made a difference. The attack on her village had been planned. The soldiers either wouldn't have helped or would have been killed like everyone else. Still, there was one other thing that she wanted to ask him about with regards to what would happen when they reached the city.

"What will I call you when we are in the city, and what will I be called?" She hated how nervous she sounded, how weak, but she couldn't stop the tremor in her voice. For the past eight years she'd been nothing but 'you' or 'girl' and he'd always just been 'master'. She had no problems with using only such titles, but somehow she doubted that everyone else in the city would be so understanding. Indeed, there was a part of her, however small, that still cared what others thought of her. Ruthlessly, she silenced it.

This time he did look at her and beneath the full weight of his gaze she found herself almost shrinking away. His eyes, so dark that they seemed black, burned into her, and for a moment she couldn't move, breathe, or even think. He was no longer her master, no longer the man who'd taken her in and trained her. No, he was once again the man he'd been when she first laid eyes on him, that powerful, inscrutable, and unreachable killer that had laid waste the creatures that had killed her family like they were nothing. She swallowed and forced herself to meet his gaze evenly. The moment passed and he was once again looking out of the cockpit at the sky before them.

"What would you like to be called?" he asked quietly. "Would you like to use your real name?"

Her eyes widened slightly. Names were something that she'd learned he didn't like to talk about. Years ago she'd asked him what his name was and he'd refused to give it. In turn, he'd never asked for her name and she was sure that if she offered it, he would refuse. In her idle moments, she often wondered why he'd given up his name. On Saturn only a few groups of people went without names and none of them were pleasant.

"No," she said after several moments of thought. "I don't want to use my real name. It's enough for me that I can still remember it." Her fists clenched and she took a deep breath before speaking again. "In a way, I don't even think of it as my name anymore. It belonged to a little girl and that little girl died years ago with the rest of her family. Now… now, there is only me. I think it would be better if her name is never tied to all the blood I'll have to spill."

He nodded slowly in approval and for a second his lips curved into a smile, a real one, soft, and almost wistful. It was not an expression she'd never really seen on his face before, but she felt it suited him. He should smile more. "Very well, you don't have to use your real name, but you are right. We won't be working alone for this. You will need a name of some kind."

"So what will I be called?"

He pursed his lips. "On Mars, it is custom that a child not receive a name until they make their first kill. Until that day they are simply referred to as the 'son of' or the 'daughter of' their parents. For Martians, to be nameless is to be too weak even to kill. It is to be useless, to be worthless, to be _nothing_." His hands tightened almost imperceptibly on the controls and his jaw clenched. "On Saturn, our beliefs our different. A name is a gift, a reflection of our soul. To be nameless is to have no soul." He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again they were almost gentle. "I have not had a name for many, many years, but there are those who call me Shadow for the way that I dress and the manner that I fight. Still, Shadow is not a name, it is simply a title."

She tilted her head to one side, not yet sure of where he was going.

"You are my first and only student, so that is what I will ask others to call you." He glanced at her. "If those we work with must call you something, have them call you Student, for it is what you are although I suspect that by the time we leave the city you will have a title of your own."

"Student?" she spoke the word slowly, wonderingly. It wasn't at all what she'd expected, but she supposed it would do. He was right, after all. It was what she was. "How much longer then, till we reach Requiem City?"

He looked at the display. "Perhaps another five or six hours." He tapped the back of her chair with one hand. "Sleep. I will wake you when we near the city."

X X X

"Student."

She woke from dreams of blood and death and black scales glittering in firelight to find something on her shoulder. In an instant, she was on her feet as her eyes scanned the area around her for any threat. Only when she realised where she was did she relax. She was in the cockpit of the transport and what had been on her shoulder was only her master's hand.

He regarded her with a slightly bemused expression and she was tempted to glare. She knew from past experiences that his instincts were much the same. The first time she'd tried to awaken him from sleep, he'd nearly killed her before he'd realised what he was doing.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Perhaps only a half hour from docking." He gestured at the window of the cockpit. "Look."

And so she looked.

And then she stared.

She could see Requiem City. And what a sight it was. The buildings at the heart of the city rose like countless titan fingers of black stone toward the dark, cloud-strewn sky. Lit in the dying light of the coming dusk, some of the buildings rose so high that they extended above even the clouds and vanished into the endless expanse of twilight far above. Slender bridges linked the buildings to one another, each bridge another strand in the web of some gigantic spider that spun not with silk, but with pitch.

Light glowed upon the sides of the mammoth buildings, shades of purple, blue, and red glittering in the growing darkness. Further out from the city centre, the buildings grew smaller, but each was still larger than any she had seen and even from a distance she could tell that all of them shared the same, imposing style. How, she wondered, could anyone have built things so huge?

As their transport began to work its way closer to the city, she saw countless dark shapes silhouetted against the sky and stiffened. But then she realised that the shapes did not belong to the great birds and dragons that stalked the barren wastes of the Great Rift. No, the shapes belonged to transports much like their own, a whole swarm of them moving in and out of the eldritch black hive of the city. Unbidden, an image came to her of the whole city laid low, it's countless spires and towers smashed to dust and the skeletons of its grandest buildings tumbling to the earth.

Some of her unease must have shown, for her master's voice cut into her reverie. "It is quite a sight, isn't it?"

She made herself nod. "I have never seen anything like it." That much was true, only she wasn't sure if she wanted to stay and continue to bask in the baroque splendour of it all, or simply turn and flee. Somewhere, deep in her gut, she couldn't shake the sense that there was something very wrong with the city.

They wove in and out of the buildings, her master deftly guiding the transport through the sea of traffic. As they continued toward their destination, she studied the buildings more intently. They were all done in the famous gothic style of Saturn. The facades were works of art, each of them detailed with the legendry of the planet and each bearing the scars of countless years of wind and rain and battle. A face flashed past her on one of the buildings and she flinched away. It was a face that she knew well for it appeared often in the history books. It was the face of the last Sailor Saturn. But she was supposed to have died so long ago that no one was certain if she'd ever really existed, or if she was just a myth. Certainly, in the countless years since then, no successor had appeared. That only made her wonder just how people knew what she had supposedly looked like. The images shown in books were probably just idealisation then, dreams, and nothing more.

Finally, they reached their destination and her master guided the transport to a stop on the roof of one of the smaller buildings away from the city centre. There was a dull thump as they touched down and then a hiss as he eased down the transport's systems.

"Remember," he reminded her. "Do as I say and follow my lead." With that he stood and she followed him as he opened the door of the transport.

There were people out there, more people that she had seen for a very long time. She dismissed most them instantly. They were fit and moved like they had training, but they lacked the grace and efficiency of movement that she had learned marked those used to killing. Most likely, they were common soldiers, used to taking orders from others and while dangerous as a group, almost harmless individually. Yes, she thought, they were no threat to her or her master.

The same could not be said for three of the others. One of them caught her eye immediately. He was an older man with a thick head of shoulder length grey hair. Unlike the soldiers, he moved with the easy grace of a born warrior and that was despite the massive sword he wore on his back. She examined the weapon more closely. From what little she could see of it, she surmised that it was likely a claymore or something similar, probably with a plasma-enhanced edge to allow it to cut through things that mere metal could not.

The second person to catch her attention was a younger man who stood just off the shoulder of the older man. He had dark brown hair and eyes of roughly the same colour but unlike the older man he seemed to prefer firearms. There was a rifle slung across his back and though she didn't much like guns herself, her master had insisted she learn to recognise and even use them just as well as anything else. But it was his eyes that really drew her attention. His eyes seemed to flick over the whole scene automatically and to take in each and every detail with practiced ease. He was also one of the few who did not immediately dismiss her upon noting her size and gender.

At last, she let her eyes fall onto the final person to catch her attention. There was a young woman there, perhaps four or five years older than her, and while she would normally have been considered exotically pretty with her bright blue eyes and blonde hair – both rarities on Saturn – there was a hardness about her that spoke of a life of constant battle. Moreover, there was a power inside her, one not dissimilar to the power inside Student, but softer somehow.

Student was shaken from her thoughts when the older man walked up to greet her master. The two of them met each other's gaze for a moment before there was a blur of motion. Faster than she would have believed possible, the older man drew his claymore and brought it around toward her master's head. Had her master been even a moment slower in drawing his own weapon, the blow would have parted his head from his shoulders. As it was, sparks flew as the two blades met and her master was pushed back, actually pushed back, for several inches.

"It's been a long time, Deran," her master said. "It seems you're still doing well."

The older man, Deran, laughed and tugged her master into a hug. Her master accepted the gesture, but she could see how uncomfortable it made him and how relieved he was when the other man let go. "And you're still the same." His gaze flicked up to her and she met it evenly. "Although I have to admit, I wasn't sure whether to believe you when you said that you had taken on a student."

"She is my first student," her master replied.

"I see." Deran nodded. "What should we call her?"

Her master smiled thinly. "Call her Student."

A curious expression crossed Deran's face and she wondered just how much the older man knew about her master's past. "Very well then, Shadow, we'll call her Student." He gestured at an elevator not far away. "If you would both come with me, I'll tell you exactly what we've got planned during your stay here."

She followed Deran and her master into the elevator as some of the other members of the staff began to unload the transport. By the looks of things, they would be given quarters in the building, which was at least one less thing to worry about. As the doors of the elevator closed she became increasingly aggravated by the stares that she was getting from most of the soldiers. She was well aware of the fact that she was not particularly physically imposing, but still, if they'd had any real combat experience they would have been able to tell that she was dangerous.

The elevator came to a stop and Deran led them through a series of corridors into a large conference room. There, he quickly gestured for both her and her master to sit as several others took seats at the table, as well. The two others she'd noticed on the roof, the young man and woman, took seats on either side of Deran. Clearly, they must be important. The older man was about to start talking, when one of the soldiers stepped forward.

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question."

Deran nodded curtly. "Speak, soldier."

"That girl," the soldier pointed at her. "Why is she here?"

A chill descended over the conference room and she narrowed her eyes. She could see the way that things were plainly enough. The group they were with was like a pack, a big one, true, but a pack all the same and Deran was its leader. She was a newcomer here and the soldier was challenging her place in the group. She could simply ignore him and the implied insult to her master, but that would solve nothing. If she and her master were to work with this group, she would need to deal with this and deal with it in a way that left no doubt.

Wordlessly, she stood and as she glanced at her master she saw his eyes glitter with approval. Good, he understood. "Just don't kill him," he murmured.

"You don't think I can pull my weight," she said, her eyes boring into the soldier. Something of her real nature must have shone through, because he took an uncertain step back before he caught himself and steadied. "You think that I am harmless." Her voice was velvet steel.

"Well look at you," the soldier replied. "You can't be more than maybe fifteen and you're not even a big fifteen at that." He chuckled and looked at his fellows for support. "What can you do?"

"Hit me," she said.

"What?"

She smiled thinly and her eyes narrowed to slits. Out of the corner of her gaze she noted the amused smirk on Deran's lips. "If you can hit me then I will admit that you are right."

The soldier looked at Deran. "Sir?"

Deran laughed. "You heard her, or don't you think you can hit her?"

That was all answer that the soldier needed. With a growl, he stalked toward her and threw a punch. It wasn't a bad punch, but to someone like her who had been fighting the beasts of the Great Rift since she was a child, it was nothing. She slipped past it and pushed away from the table into the open space of the room. He followed her, punching and kicking, and as she dodged away from each one, she felt his frustration mount.

Guffaws from his fellows filled the room and she wondered if it wasn't time to end it. The next time he threw a punch, she ghosted low and let the blow sweep over her head. As she rose, she drove her fist up and into his solar plexus. His breath left him in a whoosh and as he crumpled, she grabbed the back of his head and flung him across the floor. He skidded across the carpet and scrambled to his feet, his face red.

With an incoherent cry, he charged again, his hands outstretched to grab her and drag her down to the ground. Rather than retreat or dodge, she stepped forward and leapt up to drive one knee into his chin. The blow snapped his chin up and his eyes rolled back into his head. He dropped to the ground, twitched and lay still.

"He isn't dead," she said when she felt the others stare at her. "You can check for yourselves." As several of the other soldiers rushed over to do just that, she let the silence inside her flare, let the crimson shadows inside her soul roar to life and fill the air with the eerie violet light that marked her power. "Is there anyone else who wants to challenge my right to be here?"

No one spoke up and she was sure that at least one person made the sign against evil.

Deran waited for the room to settle and for her to take her seat again before he began to speak. He tapped the console set into the table in front of him and the data projector at the centre of the table flared to life. A three-dimensional image of Requiem City appeared.

"This is Requiem City," Deran began before the image changed to a building near the outskirts of the city. "And this is our target. Our intelligence indicates that it is one of the Royal Family's main research facilities. As you can see it is made up of five buildings arranged around a sixth, central building. The outer buildings house a range of different facilities, from research labs, to libraries, and specimen enclosures. However our main concern is the central building." He pointed at the young woman beside him. "Anara will tell you more about that."

The blonde woman, Anara, nodded and the image changed again, zooming onto the central building before the outside of the building turned transparent to reveal its interior layout. "The central building houses the main data bank, which contains all of the information relating to research carried out at the facility. For obvious reasons, that information is invaluable. With it we can find out just what they've been up to and what they are planning."

"Why don't we just hack the thing?" someone asked.

Anara shook her head. "The main data bank is an isolated system. As far as we can tell the only way to access it is through the main terminal inside the data bank. Once we have a physical connection established there then we can broadcast the data out to our own systems for retrieval."

Student studied the image of the central building. It was enormous, probably the equal of all but the very tallest buildings in the city. "What else do they keep in there?"

An uneasy look passed across Anara's face. "We can't be sure of exactly what else is in there, but we suspect that the central building also houses several auxiliary power supplies along with the more successful research specimens."

Student's eyes narrowed ominously. "I see." She turned to study her master. He was watching her impassively, no doubt interested to see just what she was thinking. "This facility must be highly guarded, how exactly do you plan on getting inside it?"

Anara looked at the young man on the other side of Deran. "Van, explain."

The young man took command of the display and once again it showed the six building of the facility, only now it had expanded to show the neighbouring buildings, as well. He drew their attention to one building in particular. "The facility is almost entirely cut off from the rest of the city from security reasons. The only building that it is connected to is this one." He pointed at a large building joined to one of the outer buildings of the facility by a bridge. "This building houses the provincial governor's office. We are fortunate that he and his staff are more concerned with amassing a fortune and currying favour with the Royal Family than doing their jobs properly. Over the past several years we have been able to ingratiate several of our members into the buildings security staff. Tomorrow, when we make our attack, we will be able to access the bridge linked to the facility."

Van looked at Student and her master. "That's where you two come in. The bridge itself is not particularly wide and it is heavily patrolled. Any large-scale attack on the bridge would immediately result in a lockdown of the facility. We need you to take out the guards on the bridge quickly and quietly. Once we've secured the bridge, we'll be able to access all of the facility's buildings using the bridges that link them to one another."

"Why don't we just fly in?" The question came from one of the soldiers. "We could maybe bust a hole in the side of one of the buildings and go in that way."

Van shook his head. "There is a sizeable garrison protecting the facility. Moreover, the buildings themselves are protected by several laser batteries and plasma emplacements. Attacking from the air would only get us massacred." He turned back to the display. "Once we've infiltrated the facility we'll be splitting into several groups. All but one of the groups will head to the other buildings. There, they will plant two sets of explosive charges. Once all of the charges are in place, we set the first set off."

"You're going to bring down the buildings?" Student asked softly.

Van shook his head. "Not, exactly. The first set of charges is mostly for show. We need to draw the garrison away from the central building and the explosions will be our way of doing that. Once the garrison comes to investigate we can engaged them in battle and tie them up. While this is happening, the group that remained behind will infiltrate the central building and make for the main data bank. Only after we've retrieved the data and evacuated will we detonate the second set of charges. Those should bring down the buildings, or at the very least cause sufficient damage to set their research program back for years."

"I and Shadow will be leading the forces attacking the outer buildings," Deran said. "Van and Anara will lead the force infiltrating the central building. Student, you will go with them."

"Is there any reason for those groupings?" Student asked. "My master and I would work better together." Inside, despite herself, she felt a hint of not so much fear, but insecurity. Her master had always been there, always, and now on this mission it seemed like they would be apart. She forced the feeling down and clenched her jaw. This mission would be her first, real chance to strike back at the people responsible for her family's death. She would not mess up.

"I don't doubt that you and your master make a most formidable team, however we have reason to believe that there are certain people amongst the facility's garrison that share the powers that you and your master have." Deran scowled. "Past experience tells us that such people would be best left to you and your master. You'll be going with Van and Anara in case any of them are encountered. Of course, your assistance in dealing with any of the central buildings defenders would also be appreciated."

She nodded. "Understood."

"Good. In that case, let me go over the specifics of the plan in more detail."

X X X

After the meeting, Student and her master were given a tour of the building and then shown to their quarters. Those quarters were, to her surprise, quite opulent, bordering on extravagant. She took one look at the silk sheets and fluffy pillows and wasn't sure if she wanted to throw up or cry. She hadn't had fluffy pillows since she was a little girl and the sight of them brought back no small number of memories, many good, but just as many unpleasant. All of them, however, were unwanted. She simply could not afford to lose focus.

Not even sure of what she was actually doing, she began to strip the pillowcases off the pillows. She hunted through the cupboards and closets that dotted her room until she found ones that better resembled the plain, rough cloth that she'd become used to. Her master entered her room as she was changing the last of the pillowcases.

He said nothing for a few moments, but she saw her face in the mirror of the dresser near the bed. Her eyes were wild and filled with unwanted memories, and her teeth were bared. Her control was fraying and they both knew it. However, rather than admonish her, he simply helped her collect the unused pillowcases and store them away. Then he helped her exchange the silk sheets and other finery for the plainer variety found in the cupboards. Only then did he speak.

"You should go out and have a look around," he said. "It may be some time before we are in a city of this size again and tomorrow there won't be time to look around."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Away from the conference room and its familiar talk of tactics and battle she felt out of place. She wasn't used to walls of thick stone and fine things. She wanted, strangely, desperately, to be back in the small house in the Great Rift. She had known how things were then, had known exactly what she was doing. Now that she was taking her first concrete steps toward avenging her family, she was suddenly uncertain. What if she made a mistake? What if she wasn't good enough?

He thrust something into her hand. It was money, a lot of money. "Go take a look outside."

She sighed and closed her hand around the money. His voice had once again taken on the tone he used during training. He must want to teach her something but in typical fashion he wanted her to learn it for herself. "Fine."

"Just be back before dawn."

As she stalked out of her room and down the corridor, she chanced a look into his room. Unbidden, a smile crept onto her lips. He'd stripped his bed of all its finery too.

From their chambers she took the elevator down to ground level. The ride was a long one, but she welcomed it. It would give her a chance to think, to ready herself for what she knew would be a very different sort of world from the desolate wastes of the Great Rift.

The instant she was out on the streets of the city, she felt a wave of nausea sweep over her. It was different, too different. The titan buildings of the city rose up on all sides, blocking her view of the night sky with their great bulk. They were like tall, deathly shadows boxing her in and for a moment she had to struggle just to breathe. And then there were the people. From up in the transport, she'd not noticed just how many there were, but now she couldn't help but notice. They were everywhere and after years spent in the company of only one other person it was more than a little unsettling.

She watched them bustle back and forth along the street for a few minutes. Then her eyes drifted to what else was around her. She must be in the shopping district, because even here, at ground level, there seemed to be countless brightly lit stores promising only the finest goods and services. Despite its name and even its appearance, it seemed that Requiem City was a lively place.

Deciding to just start walking down the street, she winced as the sudden shouts of a spruiker filled the air. The man was loud and rude and the abruptness of his cries had her going for the sword she wore at her waist. In truth, she'd wanted to take her glaive with her outside, but it would have drawn too much attention. Swords on the other hand were much more commonplace, especially this close to the Rift.

The view of the city from the street was so different than what she'd seen from higher up. From higher up, all she'd seen was the towering gothic splendour of the city, its monoliths of black stone upthrust at the sky in defiance of age and ruin. The only glimpses of colour had come from the turbulent night sky and the small, fragile lights of dark purple, blue, and red that dotted the buildings.

But on the street, things were different. Glittering signs in florid shades of red and yellow and green exhorted her to enter store after store and spend and spend. The august silence that dominated the upper reaches of the city was replaced by the broken harmony of countless conversations spoken in voices too loud to be polite, and too shrill to be wholly sane.

On either side of her, people pushed past one another, faces down, hands shoved into pockets. Was this really what her planet was like? In the face of such quiet desperation, the life she'd led in her village and in the Great Rift seemed almost quaint, a throwback to another time and place. Ahead of her she saw a woman stop and fall and almost like magic the sea of people parted around her, but no one stopped to held. She took one step forward and then stopped as the woman raised a face made ruddy by too much alcohol and began to yell imprecations at anyone who would listen as she pawed madly at the air.

Student shook her head. She hated this place. Whatever strength of spirit that had made the city great that had carved the titan buildings onto the featureless plain in ages past was long gone. These people were nothing more than shadows of their predecessors and she could almost understand why the Royal Family had done what they'd done. What price a few lives, she thought, if it could stir the people of Saturn from their stupor, if it could make them great again? She laughed bitterly and then broke into a run.

She ran for a long time until she caught sight of Anara on the opposite side of the street. The other woman was going into one of the many bars that seemed to dot the district she was in. What was Anara doing there? Her eyes narrowed as several men in front of the bar exchanged looks and followed the older woman into the bar. She thought for a heartbeat and then crossed the street. The looks they'd exchanged had not been pleasant.

The doorkeeper at the bar didn't even move as she pushed past him. Her age, it seemed, did not matter. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as she took in the smell of the bar. It smelled of old alcohol, decay and other, far less pleasant things. Instinct guided her as she trailed the men to the far end of the bar where Anara was sitting and waited in the shadows for them to make their move.

She did not have to wait long. One of the men grabbed Anara by the shoulder and leered down at her. Then he said something that she didn't quite catch, but Anara's reaction was more than enough. She made a disgusted face and slapped him. It was, in Student's opinion the wrong thing to do. She might not have been around people much, but she could tell what type of people these men were. Anara should have used the opportunity to knock the man out cold, not simply anger him.

The man lifted his fist to strike and she waited for a split-second to see if anyone would do anything. No one moved, no even looked. No one cared. Except for her. She pushed off from the wall in a blur of motion and shoved her foot into the back of his knee. It collapsed under him and put his head level with the bar. She wasted no time and slammed his face into the hard wood. He went down and even before he'd hit the ground, she scooped Anara's glass off the bar and flung it into the face of the second man. The glass hit him and shattered. A harsh cry left his lips and he clawed at his face to try and clear the jagged edges of the broken glass away.

The third man rushed at her from the side and she dodged and stuck one foot out. He tripped and sprawled awkwardly on the ground. Before he could rise, she grabbed a chair and tossed it at his head. It hit with a dull thud and he gave a groan and then lay still. She turned back to the second man and drove a kick into his chest. The force of it hurled him into the nearest wall before he fell limply to the ground. She heard a cry from behind her and saw that Anara had dealt with the last of the men.

"What are you doing here?" the older woman demanded harshly. "Don't you know how dangerous this place is?"

Student nearly laughed. Dangerous? This place was nothing compared to the Great Rift and she'd just taken out three of the men without even trying. Still, a part of her was almost grateful for the other woman's worry. It had been a long, long time since anyone had actually seemed worried about her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw some of the bar's staff discretely drag the downed men to the door and then toss them out.

"I saw you enter the bar," she said finally. "And I saw them follow. So I followed too."

Anara looked at her for a long time and then nodded. "I guess I should be grateful." She sighed. "It seems you really are your master's apprentice." She patted the seat next to her. "Sit down, I'll buy you a drink."

She sat. "I don't drink."

"Of course, you're too young, and I know your master doesn't drink either." Anara looked at the bartender. "Get her a juice or something."

The bartender came back with a glass of juice. Student took a long sip of it and winced. It was cold and bitter, but it was refreshing in a way. How strange it was, she thought, that she was too young to drink, but not too young to fight or kill. Absentmindedly, she watched Anara buy another drink – juice. "Why is it like this?" she murmured more to herself than anyone else.

However Anara must have heard her. "Like what?"

Student wondered whether or not she should continue, but decided that she might as well ask. "This place… it seems wrong, somehow. It isn't like the Saturn that I know. It is lawless and chaotic and everyone looks and hears, but no one sees or listens." She took another long sip of her drink. "And everyone is so desperate."

Anara sighed. "So you feel it too? You've been out on the Rift a long time, Student. Things have been getting worse for centuries, but it's gotten really bad over the last decade." She shook her head. "Saturn's manufacturing capacity goes up every year, but it's all just weapons, things like ships and guns. Saturn is going to war and everyone knows it, it's just a matter of time. Oh, the Royal Family might say that we're just going to increase our contribution to the Lunar Empire's military, but nobody buys that. Never forgive, never forget, isn't that their motto?" She closed her eyes. "The Rift's been growing too, although you wouldn't notice since you're in the middle of it. Whatever the Royal Family has planned, it's big, and it's not good, not for any of us."

"Is that why all the people are like this?" Student asked.

"I think so. People aren't stupid. They can tell what'll happen once Saturn declares war on the Empire. We'll lose and lose badly." Anara drank the rest of her juice in one gulp. "The last time we fought the Empire and lost they gave us the Great Rift. Who knows what'll happen the next time. So people do whatever they can to take their minds off things and the old ways – the good ways – become little more than memories. The Royal Family thinks that seceding will bring back the glory of the old days, but they're wrong. It'll just get all of us killed."

"What did they do to you?" Student asked softly. "What did they take from you?"

Anara looked at her and her eyes glittered icily. "Hope, that's what they took from me." She pushed away from the bar and strode out onto the street. "You should go home, Student. I'll be fine."

Student wanted to follow, but she could tell that Anara wanted very much, very desperately, to be alone. The older woman was right. Who could blame everyone for being desperate when the very people who were supposed to watch over them seemed determined to lead them into oblivion? With a sigh, she pulled her cloak tighter about herself, and turned away.

She wandered the streets for several more hours before she headed back. Her master called out to her as she passed his room. "What did you see, Student?"

She stopped and stared ahead, eyes unseeing. "Nothing," she said softly. "There was nothing to see."

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

So, this chapter is another look at the past. One of the problems of having three separate timelines is that chapters are, by necessity, going to have to be split up between each of them. I've been waiting to write this chapter for a while, actually, just because it's the first time that our protagonist actually sees what a Saturnian city looks like. The answer, of course, is that it looks unlike anything she's ever seen and I wanted to try and get across both her awe at the sight and, her feelings of unease because of how different it is to what she's used to. Just like the Lunar Empire itself, Saturn has many faces, not all of them pleasant or noble. Really, it's almost as fun describing giant ancient cities as it is describing giant space battles. Now if only I could find a way to combine the two…

Anyway, this chapter was also a bit of a relief. The previous few chapters have been very enjoyable to write, but demanding at the same time. I found the change of pace to be a welcome one, as a story that maintains only one pace can often become quite taxing for both reader and writer. There is also the small fact that I like blowing things up in some of my stories, and this chapter hints pretty obviously that there will be plenty of that to come. Heh.

Coincidentally, the shorter delay between this chapter and the last one was due to some extra free time that I was able to snag during the week. When that happens and I do write something, rather than hold it back for a couple of weeks, I'll just post it up.

As always, I appreciate you feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Student closed her eyes and willed herself to relax. The provincial governor's office had already been secured and everyone else was in place. The only thing left to do was to take the bridge.

"Are you ready?" her master asked.

She nodded slowly. They'd spent the past ten minutes just watching the guards patrolling the bridge. There were twenty of them and though the near total darkness made it impossible to see their facial expressions, they moved as though they were very bored. Most likely, years without incident had lulled them into false sense of security.

No, the guards weren't the problem. It was the searchlights that posed the greatest risk. There were four of them and they swept across the bridge at regular intervals. Although she and her master could, to some extent, use their powers to cloak themselves from the guards, the powerful searchlights were another matter. And if they were spotted they wouldn't have to deal with just twenty guards. According to Deran's information, the facility's garrison numbered at least two hundred.

Assuming they got past the guards and the searchlights, there was a pair of guardhouses at the end of the bridge, one at the top of the gate leading into the facility, the other at the base. Both guardhouses were needed to open the gate but if they failed to take them simultaneously then either could call for the facility's garrison.

"Do you see the pattern?" her master asked. She nodded. "Good. You take the left side of the bridge and I will take the right. Once we reach the guardhouses, take the one at the top and I will take the one at the base. Understood?"

Again she nodded. Years of training together and fighting together meant that his short explanation was more than enough.

He took a deep breath and waited for just the right moment. "Move."

She stepped out onto the bridge and burst into motion as her power flickered to life. It swallowed the sound of her footsteps and pulled the darkness tighter around her. The world blurred and the glaive she held felt light as a feather. A heartbeat later, she reached the first group of soldiers.

She struck with ruthless efficiency. Her glaive whipped around and the blunt end struck one of the guards in the temple and hurled him off the bridge. At the same time, the blade dug into the throat of another and a flick of her wrist sent off the bridge, as well. The third stumbled back in shock, fumbling for his communicator, but a well place slash dropped him to the ground as she let the weight of the glaive carry her seamlessly into a horizontal cut that cut the fourth guard almost in half.

And then she was moving again. She had maybe a minute at the most before the searchlights would uncover the carnage and she needed to make it count. Her master was already ahead of her, his sword moving in short, deadly arcs as he laid into the next group of guards. They fell almost silently, and she turned her eyes ahead to the last group of guards.

They must have seen her and her master, because one of them was lifting his communicator to his lips as the others reached for their weapons. Quickly, she calculated the distance between her and them and a grimace crossed her lips. Even with her speed, they were too far away. So instead of trying to go faster, she reached for the knives she wore at her side and threw several in quick succession.

The first knife caught the guard trying to call for help in the eye and the second caught one of the others in the chest. Her third knife sailed wide of the mark but that hardly mattered, because it had bought her the time she needed to close in on them. As the remaining guards levelled their guns at her, she struck. Her glaive swept through the guard closest to her and she spun to plant her foot into the chest of another. The kick sent him over the side of the bridge and she turned in time to slice the gun of the last guard in half. He stared stupidly at his ruined weapon, before her follow up strike split him from right shoulder to left hip.

With only the guardhouses left, Student turned her eyes to the searchlights. It would be close, they had less than a minute to take both guardhouses and it would take them almost that long just to reach them. Her master blurred past her and she leapt up onto the railing of the bridge. She sprinted toward the end of the bridge on the narrow railing and gathered all of her strength before she vaulted up toward the guardhouse in a long, high arc.

For one moment, the world laid spread out before her, a graveyard of ancient black stone mountains studded with manmade stars. And then the guardhouse was there in front of her, only a split-second away. She saw the looks of shock on the guards' faces as they saw her arcing through the air toward them. She might have smiled, she wasn't sure, but as one of the guards reached for the console in front of him to sound the alarm, she threw her glaive.

Her glaive pierced through the reinforced glass of the guardhouse window with hardly a pause and the guard let loose a wet cry as the weapon pinned him to the back wall. Tucking herself into a ball, she let herself fall through the broken window into the guardhouse. For a split-second, no one moved and then everything happened all at once.

She got to her feet as the first guard drew his pistol and fired. She ghosted to the side and the shot went wide. Bitter disbelief crossed the guard's face as she lunged forward and drove one hand up into his chin. His head snapped back and she struck again at his exposed neck. He gagged and clutched at his ruined throat before she grabbed him and flung him into the others.

The other guards stumbled over him and she darted forward, careful to keep herself between them and the console. Again, one of the guards tried to get a shot off, but she rolled and scooped up a shard of broken glass and a heartbeat later he was down, the shard imbedded in his chest. There were three guards left now and one of them rushed toward her as the others split up and made for the console to call for help. She cursed silently and backed away as he threw a powerful kick at her side. A jolt of pain ran up her arm as she parried the attack and shoved his leg away. He stumbled and she rounded on the two others.

One of them was already at the console and she dove forward. They toppled to the ground together and she winced as a wild punch grazed her cheek. It would bruise and bruise badly, but right now she didn't care. She elbowed him in the head twice and then slammed his head onto the floor. He went limp and she scrambled to her feet just in time to catch a kick to the gut.

Pain rushed through her and she cursed her carelessness as she swung a leg out in desperation. The guard who'd kicked her tripped and stumbled away from the console as she got to her feet again. However, before she could go after him, the only other remaining guard lunged at her again. Rather than retreat, she ducked down and drove her shoulder up and into his solar plexus. He folded and she brought both hands down on the back of his neck.

There was only one guard left now and as he reached for the console, she snatched up one of the guns from the fallen guards and fired. He slumped over, a hole in his head, and she pushed him off the console and activated her communicator.

"This is Student, I'm in position."

There was a moment of silence before her master replied. "I am also in position. Are you ready to open the gate?"

She looked the console over for a moment before she nodded. "Ready."

"Good. Enter the access codes on the count of three."

Not long after, Student was standing off to one side of the guardhouse as Anara used the console to take control of as many of the facility's security systems as she could. It was slow, painstaking work, but they could ill afford to rush. As Anara worked, the others split off into different groups to plant the plasma charges throughout the facility. Only Student, Van, and several others remained.

"How is it going?" Van asked.

Anara shrugged. "We're lucky. Their system is complicated, but it's designed mainly to resist attacks from outside. I've disabled most of the cameras and security locks, but I'm going to need physical access to some of the more secure areas."

"That's all right, I expected as much." Van activated his communicator. "Have you got the charges in place yet?"

Student was not surprised to find that her master's group was the first to reply in the affirmative. Over the next few minutes, word came from the other groups and when all of the charges were in place, Anara turned control of the console over to one of the others.

"That's our cue then," Van said. "Follow me."

The group of them – Student, Van, Anara, and seven others – made their way over toward the bridge that led to the central building. They entered one of the many conference rooms that dotted the area and waited as Van gave the order for the first set of charges to go off.

"We're in position," Van said. "Blow the first set of charges."

At first there was nothing and then the whole building shook as a series of dull booms rumbled through the night. The lights flickered wildly for a moment and then went out, only to reactivate a second later as the facility's emergency power supplies kicked in.

"Are we tracking any activity from the garrison?" Van asked, speaking via his communicator to the group stationed in the guardhouse.

"Yes," came the reply. "But the garrison in the central building has yet to deploy."

Van scowled. "That's no good. We can't get in if they're still there." He paused in thought. "Tell the others to make some noise. Nothing too dangerous, but we need that garrison deployed."

Several minutes passed as Student listened keenly to the growing sounds of battle outside. Whatever the other groups were doing, it was working, because the facility's intercom system soon crackled to life, urging all personnel to retreat to the designated evacuation areas and all members of the facility's garrison to deploy to combat stations.

"Any word yet about the garrison for the central building?" Anara asked.

Van held up one hand for quiet as he listened intently to his communicator. Finally, he nodded. "They've deployed and are engaging the group at the south-west building." He nodded at the others. "This is our chance, let's go."

The group slipped out of their hiding place and crept toward the central building. There were only a handful of soldiers left to guard the entrance and they made short work of them. Unfortunately, the garrison had locked the gate into the central building behind them, and several nervous minutes passed as Anara crouched beside the gate with her computer. Finally, the gate swung open and the group stepped inside.

Inside, Student's eyes widened in surprise. She'd expected white walls, plastic and metal. That was not what she saw. Instead, the inside of the building was exquisitely fitted with fine black marble floors and tall, curling obsidian columns that supported a vaulted ceiling. It looked, she thought, more like a palace than a research facility.

"What is this?" one of the members of their group muttered as he studied the hallway around them in the dim glow of the emergency lights.

"Think about it later," Van said. "We need to move."

However they'd only taken a few steps before a much louder, and much closer, explosion rocked the building. Student had to struggle just to keep her footing.

"What was that?" Van barked into his communicator. "Someone? Report, tell me what that was!"

The reply was not what any of them wanted to here. "They have a gunship."

Student's grip on her glaive tightened. This was all wrong. Gunships were heavily armed flying craft designed for all out combat. They were also supposedly forbidden in urban areas due to the collateral damage that their weaponry tended to produce. The facility wasn't supposed to have any and she knew that the groups outside weren't prepared to deal with one.

Van cursed. "Look, we can't back out now so I don't care how you do it, but take that thing out. Okay? Just take it out."

That, Student thought, would be easier said than done, but really Van was right. It was too late to back out now. They would just have to hurry and hope that the others found a way to deal with the gunship.

However the group's progress was hampered by the simple fact that they couldn't be entirely sure that all of the central building's garrison had deployed elsewhere. It didn't help either that the dim lighting and convoluted layout of the central building were ideal for an ambush. With senses honed by years of experience in the twisted ruin of the Great Rift, Student led the way.

As they continued deeper in the building, Student chanced a look at the doors that branched off from the corridor. A chill ran down her spine and she stopped in front of one. There was a simple sign on the door: _SR-1919A._

It meant Specimen Room 1919A.

Unable to help herself, she ignored the motions of the others to keep going, and peered through the small glass window set into the door. There were cages inside, row after row of cages, and inside them were things out of a nightmare. They looked like great cats, but instead of fur they had scales and burning crimson eyes. Her fists clenched and she felt her lips curl into a savage snarl as her power surged to life. The creatures inside the room were just like the things that had killed her family.

Vaguely, she was aware of the others jerking to a halt as her killing intent filled the air around her. The urge to just break down the door and drown herself in blood and slaughter was almost overwhelming and it took everything she had to pull herself away from the door and rein her power in.

"Are you all right?" Anara asked.

Student nodded slowly. "Let's just keep going."

As much as Student wanted to kill those creatures and everything like them, she knew that wouldn't be enough. The only way she'd ever be satisfied was if she could get her hands on the people responsible for making them and that meant finishing the mission. A cold smile crossed her face. Besides, they'd be bringing down the buildings afterward anyway.

A few minutes passed and the group were almost halfway to the central data bank when another tremendous explosion rocked the building. The lights flashed crazily and then went out. The group waited several moments for the lights to turn back on, but this time they stayed out. With no other option, the whole group, including Student, activated their night vision equipment. Even she couldn't see in complete darkness.

"What was that?" Van barked into his communicator as the group continued on. "What did you guys just do?"

Deran's voice came over the communicator, loud and apologetic. "We took the gunship down. Unfortunately, it crashed into the side of the central building."

Anara stopped. "What floor," she asked, practically snatching the communicator from Van. "What floor did it crash into?"

"The tenth, I think, right near the base of the building," Deran replied.

Anara's gasp was audible. "Tell me you're joking."

Van took the communicator back. "What's wrong with that? Do you think the building is going to collapse?"

Anara shook her head and though the night vision goggles made it difficult, Student was somehow certain that the other woman's face had paled considerably. "One of the main conduits for the back up power supplies runs through the tenth floor."

"I know." Van shrugged. "But the back up generators are below ground, aren't they?"

"Yes, but that conduit carries power to most of this building. If it's gone, then it doesn't matter if the back up generators are working or not." Anara swallowed. "The central data bank should be fine – it has its own dedicated conduit – but the rest of the building's functions, things like life support and security may not be fine."

"Shouldn't that make our mission easier?" Van asked.

Student frowned as a thought occurred to her. The security systems didn't just prevent access to restricted areas they also… "The specimen rooms," she breathed. "They're not locked anymore, are they?"

As if in answer a roar split the darkness. Student turned as the first of several low slung shapes began to round the corner. Crimson eyes flickered.

"Go," Student shouted. "Go now!"

X X X

The group ran toward the central data bank as the doors that lined the corridor on either side of them began to swing open. Most of them revealed little more than small, tidy offices, but from others came an assortment of unnatural shapes. There were hundreds maybe thousands of specimens in the central building and now, all of them were free. Dimly, it occurred to them, that the shadow-draped confines of the central building made it the ideal hunting ground for such predators. And they were the prey.

Something loomed up ahead of them in the darkness. In the ugly green of the night vision goggles, Student caught a glimpse of claws and teeth and unearthly compound eyes. A hellish buzzing filled the air and the thing – what else could she call it? – lunged toward the group. One of the others opened fire, shooting wildly in panic, and the thing grabbed him by the collar. Limbs, too many for an insect and all the wrong kind, flailed wildly in the air as the thing shook him like a ragdoll.

"What the hell is this?" he screamed. "Help me!"

Student hurled herself at the thing and a shudder ran through her as she felt the brush of fur against her even as her glaive cut through hard, chitinous armour. Acrid fluid bubble up from the wound and she jerked her glaive savagely to one side. The thing shrieked and she heard a thump as it dropped the man to the ground behind her. The vile buzzing in the air grew louder as she dodged around a storm of blows and struck it squarely in the centre of its chest. Purple light flashed into existence as she called upon her power and struck again and again until at last the thing lay still.

"What the hell is that thing?" someone murmured.

"I don't know," Student replied without turning. It was a hideous conglomeration of several creatures, more misshapen than even the denizens of the Rift. "But we need to keep going."

They continued on and though they didn't run into any more trouble, Student couldn't help but feel that they were being followed. They were almost to the central data bank when her worst fears were confirmed.

"Stop where you are!" The cry came from a small group of soldiers in the corridor up ahead, only a few minutes from the central data bank. Yet before Student or any of the others could formulate a response several lean feline/reptile shapes peeled away from the walls and tore into the soldiers.

"There's another way around," Anara said as the creatures looked up at them with blood red eyes. "Come on!"

"No." Student shrugged Anara's arm off her shoulder. "You and the others go ahead. Someone has to stay to make sure that they don't follow."

"You don't have to do this!" Anara pleaded. "Come with us."

Student shook her head. Anara was wrong. She needed this, needed to kill all of these creatures. Inside her, the emptiness stretched, awakening at last, and she gave voice to it with a growl that drew every crimson eye to her. "Go," she told Anara. "Go now."

The other woman shot her one last look before she and the others fled along the alternate route to the central data bank. Alone at last, Student felt laughter well up inside her. She wasn't a helpless little girl any more and she wasn't afraid. No, the ones who should be afraid were these creatures. Their kind had killed her family and now they would pay.

She sprang forward and her glaive rose and fell in a single brutal motion. One of the creatures practically exploded from the force of the attack and she whirled to drive her weapon's edge into the chest of another as it jumped toward her. They were circling her now, wary and angry at the sudden change of events. She watched closely, heart pounding, as she tried to keep a leash on her fury.

These creatures were modelled on great cats and most likely fought as a pack. One of them would try and draw her attention so that the others could attack from behind. It was just a matter of time. The seconds ticked past and then the attack came. One of them lunged at her and she ducked, spinning to where she knew the next attack had to be and drove her glaive up and into the gut of one of the creatures as it surged toward her.

But even in death the creature had managed to buy the others time. As she tried to jerk its heavy body off her weapon, another one of them crashed into her from behind. She and the creature went down in a tangle of limbs. It pawed at her face and she felt her head jerk to one side as it tore off the night vision goggles.

Cast into darkness, Student fought on instinct as the creature slashed furiously at her upper body. The creature's teeth and claws glowed red in the light of its terrible blood coloured eyes as she summoned her power and thrust one hand into the creature's side. It howled as the dark purple energy ate at its flesh and she wedged one hand under its chin to try and stop its jaw from closing around her throat.

The creature gave a hideous cry as it died and she kicked it away and rolled to her feet. The others were on her in an instant and she felt the hollowness within her scream for release. The urge to rend and tear swept through her and she embraced it. Despite the wounds on her upper body, she'd never felt more powerful.

She dodged one of the creatures and drove a purple-wreathed hand into its skull. It was dead before it hit the ground and she dove for her glaive. The others followed her and she got to her weapon just in time to bring it to bear. The edge flashed deep purple as she sliced right through the side of one of the creatures and then smashed the spine of another with the blunt end of the weapon.

She was the predator here and these creatures were her prey. They were just too stupid to realise it. They circled her again, but this time she was ready. Rather than wait for them to attack, she attacked them. There was a wet squelch as she eviscerated one and then spun to cut another down. Something leapt onto her back and she jerked away just enough to make it bite into her shoulder instead of her throat. With a hiss, she reached up with one hand and thrust her power into the creature's skull. Its head disintegrated and she shoved the corpse off her.

There were only a few of them left now but she was beyond pain, beyond weakness. With unnatural speed, she dodged through a hail of blows and replied with strikes of her own that left only mangled flesh in their wake. Finally, there was nothing left to kill, and she dropped to her knees. The silence echoed loudly around her – or was she screaming? – and she was only vaguely aware of the coppery taste in her mouth and the blood splattered all over her. Slowly, she stood and her feet bumped into something. Her night vision goggles. She reached down and put them back on. And immediately wished she hadn't.

In the darkness, she'd not been able to truly see the damage she'd wrought, but now she could see everything. She hadn't just killed the creatures. She'd massacred them. There was blood all over the walls and bits and pieces of them scattered about the corridor. Bile burned the back of her throat and she forced herself to look away. The others still needed her.

She stumbled toward the central data bank and let loose a quiet curse as she heard the sound of gunfire up ahead. She'd made sure to memorise the weaponry that the others carried and there was no mistaking it. The others were in trouble. As best she could, she picked up her pace and rounded a corner to see the others locked in combat with some hydra-like monstrosity.

The creature seemed to fill the whole corridor and its dozen or so heads each had gaping jaws filled with jagged teeth. The others were firing at it with everything they had and the creature's body was riddled with wounds but rather than go down, the creature bellowed with renewed fury and continued its assault.

Forcing back a wave of dizziness, she broke into a jagged run. The creature hadn't noticed her yet which meant that she'd get at least one chance to land an attack and she intended to make it count. She jumped and landed on the creature's back. It reacted instantly, bucking to try and throw her off, but she drove her glaive down into the flesh of its back. The creature screamed and she heard cries of surprise from the others, but she ignored them and ripped her weapon free only to drive it down again, deeper this time, and closer to the creature's spine.

Blood spurted onto her face and she whipped her head about to try and throw some of it off her night vision goggles. The creature noticed her distraction and threw itself against the walls of the corridor. She slammed into the wall and felt her side creak as the creature prepared to repeat the motion. Blindly, she twisted her glaive and shoved as much of her power into it as she could. The creature gave a high-pitched shriek and dropped to its knees, its spinal cord severed.

As the creature crashed to the ground, she hopped off it and hobbled over to the others. They looked at her with varying degrees of awe and horror. She was about to speak when the creature twitched. It was still alive. Calmly, she walked back and thrust into its back with her glaive one last time. It thrashed and then lay still.

"Are you alright?" Anara asked as Student accompanied them over to the massive door that led into the central data bank.

Student nodded and moved to lean against the wall. Pain rippled through her and she lifted one hand to heal the wound on her shoulder. It was the worst of her wounds and if she didn't get it healed, she'd probably pass out from blood loss within a few minutes. As Anara began the tricky process of hacking the door, Student slowly healed each of her major wounds. She had countless other scrapes and bruises too, but they were far from life threatening and she needed to conserve as much of her power as she could in case they ran into any more trouble.

Pushing away from the wall, she studied the door more closely. It was quite a piece of work, several feet thick and made of an exotic compound that was probably the hardest thing in the Lunar Empire. If that wasn't enough, it was also protected and reinforced by the finest magic and technology available. Even with her powers, it would have taken her far too long to break it down.

Finally, Anara nodded to the others and the door opened. The group entered and she shut the door behind them.

The central data bank was a huge chamber dominated by five gigantic pillars. Each pillar was composed of thousands of crystal-like data recorders immersed in shimmering connection liquid that also served as coolant. A circular catwalk ran around the space that the pillars occupied and when Student leaned over it to take a look, she saw that the pillars seemed to go up and down forever and that there were countless other catwalks and pylons above and below to help support the pillars.

"Come on," Anara said. "We need to move quickly."

The blonde led the group over to a bridge that extended to a central platform that was linked to all of the pillars. There was a large console there and she and the others quickly began to set up several transmitters.

"How is this going to work?" Student asked. The debriefing had only mentioned that transmitters would be used without going into specifics, yet now she was curious to know more.

Anara kept her eyes on the transmitters as she replied. "These five pillars are the data recorders. Each is made up of more than ten thousand networked data recorders and processors imbedded in a connection fluid that serves as a hyper-dimensional information transmission lattice. What this means is that this place has more storage capacity than any single mainframe or network outside of government control. What we're going to do is to transmit as much of the information in here as we can to the storage units we've got scattered around the city. We've got more than twenty storage units, the largest that money can buy, so we should just be able to handle it all. It'll take us a while to get everything, and even longer to piece things back together once we're out, but it's the only way." She sighed. "Just keep an eye on things, okay?"

Student nodded and did a slow circuit of the catwalk as she forced herself to remain alert. There was power in the central data bank and though the lights were dim and flickered occasionally, they were still bright enough that she didn't have to use her night vision equipment anymore. Eventually, her eyes were drawn to the consoles that lined the edge of the catwalk. By the looks of things, the power failure had rebooted some of them and they were displaying some of the most recently uploaded files. Unable to help herself, she walked over to one and began to read.

_Subject: Project Shadow Cat_

_Entry #N2357-AS-2198_

_Project Shadow Cat continues to progress well. The creatures have demonstrated a remarkable combination of strength, speed, and agility, far outstripping the attributes of the original species used in their creation. Live tests of their performance against armed civilians have also been extremely promising, as the creatures appear to be quite resilient to small arms fire. Of course, heavy munitions are still a threat and extreme blunt force trauma and bladed weaponry continue to be deleterious toward their well being but these weaknesses are not unexpected, given that Project Shadow Cat was designed with an emphasis on speed and agility. Nevertheless, even these limitations might be overcome, as the project still has another two years before a final template is required._

_Unfortunately, however, not all of our field-testing has been pleasing. Testing with regular troops has produced several poor outcomes. To be sure, the creatures themselves perform well. They are ruthlessly efficient and operate extremely well in groups. The insurgents that we targeted were wiped out with minimal difficulty. However, the creatures then turned upon our own troops and we lost several platoons before we were able to restrain and sedate them. As pleasing as it is to know that they are a match for even trained soldiers, we had hoped to integrate the creatures into our regular forces. Still, even if we can't use them with our regular forces, the creatures will make excellent shock troops and are ideally suited for clean up missions. _

_However, I do feel that it is worth trying to iron out these behavioural kinks and in this respect, there may be some benefit to seeking assistance from the Martians, although we must be careful, given their loyalty to the Moon. There is ample evidence to suggest that the Martians do posses psychic powers that can be used to allow for at least some modicum of communication with animals. Indeed, we don't need complex communication. It would be enough if we could simply get the creatures to distinguish between friend and foe. Barring Martian assistance, there is also some promising neural modification research being conducted on Mercury that could be modified to our needs. Naturally, we would have to be especially cautious pursuing that technology as Sailor Mercury is one of the Empire's most vocal supporters._

_Finally, I would like to mention our newest generation. Admittedly, they aren't fully-grown yet, so no field-testing had yet been done, but their physical abilities already exceed those of their earlier peers. We have also trialled some standard behavioural training and despite the unfortunate loss of several trainers, we do appear to have had some success. Unfortunately, the creatures have also shown a worrying tendency to attach only to a specific trainer and their loyalty typically fails to generalise to other trainers._

_In any case, I look forward to presenting my research to you in full and I hope that you find our work sufficiently pleasing as to merit an extension of funding. We are not, I imagine, so lofty in our aims as Project Rebirth – a most worthy project indeed – but our aims are already on track and at the very least, our project offers a clear product that can be used until the other projects are completed._

Student felt her gut clench and had to fight the urge to turn her glaive and power on everything around her. She didn't doubt for a moment that Project Shadow Cat referred to the creatures that had killed her family. This facility hadn't just been involved with breeding them, whoever had made this data entry – why wasn't there a name? – had also been responsible for organising field testing. She laughed brokenly. Field-testing? What a hideously bland way to describe the state sanctioned slaughter of innocent people.

Expression grim, she walked over to the next console and then froze.

_Subject: Project Rebirth_

_Entry #2190-TE-3270_

_I will admit that to this point, Project Rebirth has been a study in failure. We have attempted implantation on more than one thousand separate subjects without a single success – until now. Unlike our previous subjects who have either died instantly or without ever regaining consciousness following the implantation of modified DNA from SS and foreign souls, Subject HT-15 came through the procedure without incident._

_Subsequent testing revealed an unprecedented level of success with HT-15 demonstrating the following:_

_Massively increased strength, speed, and agility_

_Heightened perceptual and mental acuity_

_Extreme combat ability_

_Possession of at least some of the rumoured powers of SS (keeping in mind that the time elapsed since the death of the last SS means that we are relying mostly on legend and conjecture)_

_Unfortunately, HT-15 has also shown increasingly obvious signs of mental instability, such as extreme paranoia, involuntary movement, and inexplicable bouts of extreme violence. More recently, HT-15 has also begun to shown signs of physical decline, most likely caused by the strain produced by our attempts to replicate the powers of SS. It may well be the case that even if implantation is successful, the resulting changes may prove to be too much for the subject's body to handle._

_It also appears that even though she possesses some of the powers of SS, she cannot fully control them. Still, she more than a match for anything we've thrown at her and this is despite being only fifteen years of age. Thus, although our success cannot be called a complete triumph, I do believe that it is proof of principle. It is possible for implantation to succeed. We can, at least to some extent, induce the powers of a senshi in someone who is not a senshi by birth. It would, of course, assist our research if we could retrieve samples from other senshi with powers less volatile than our own. Certainly, more recent samples would mean that we would no longer have to contend with the massive degradation that characterise our samples from SS (indeed, were it not for the powers inherent to SS, we doubt that our samples would have survived this long)._

_However, I must concede that any such plans are unlikely to succeed. The other senshi are rarely in a position where sample collection could occur on a meaningful scale and their sensitivity to their own powers would likely reveal our purpose. Still, I cannot help but feel that our research would be so much easier if we were working with a senshi who's powers were less enormous and volatile._

_In light of this recent success, I would like to request additional funding and an independent facility. Although our equipment here is most adequate and we thank you for generosity, it is not specialised to our purpose and as our success grows, we would benefit from a more secluded facility where the energy surges and power unleashed by our subjects were less noticeable. _

_I would also like to draw your attention to the difficulties regarding our use of souls. The process of harvesting souls and then binding them to the subjects is a tedious and time-consuming procedure. Furthermore, the sheer quantity of souls required makes procuring a sufficient number of souls quite difficult. However we have yet to find a better way of awakening the latent potential in the samples from SS that we implant. I fear that unless steps are taken to increase our harvest of souls, we may have to slow down our research._

_To close, I look forward to meeting with your personally. If it meets with your approval, I could even bring HT-15 – sedated and under control, of course – for your evaluation. With your support, I know that it will not be long before we harness the full power of our senshi and when that happens, even the Lunar Empire will be unable to oppose us._

"Student!"

Student jerked away from the console in surprise. Her mind whirled. These people were trying to create a Sailor Saturn, for whom else could SS be? Were they completely insane? Worse, it sounded like they needed to bind the souls of others onto the subjects of their experimentation. She hadn't even known that such a thing was possible, yet it made a frightening amount of sense. After all, Sailor Saturn was the senshi of death and rebirth, so it made sense that enough death could awaken her powers. But to do such a thing to a young woman and to be so callous about it was truly monstrous.

"We're done here, Student," Anara shouted. She was directing the soldiers to pack up the equipment and plant charges around the central data bank. "Come on!"

"Wait!" Student shouted back. "You all need to read this."

The others crowded around the console and as they read, their expressions turned from disgust to horror.

"Things are worse than I thought," Van said. "But at least we'll be blowing this place up on our way out. Now come on, let's go."

They had taken only a few steps toward the door before there was a tremendous crash. The thick metal of the door bulged inward and Student thought for a moment that she could see wisps of purple along its frame. Then another blow hammered into the door and an angry screech filled the air as the automated locking system struggled to hold it in place. All along the door, magic flared to life to try and ward off the damage before another blow shattered even that protection.

Student felt a chill run down her spine and at her side her free hand began to shake as her glaive quivered in her other hand. She looked back at Van and Alara. "Get behind me."

"What?" Van asked.

Student's mouth firmed into a thin line and her eyes grew dark. "There is someone out there. I do not know who they are, but I can feel them." She clenched her fist to stop her hand from trembling and slowly raised her glaive into a ready position. "They are strong, very strong, and if you do not stay where I can protect you then I am not sure that you will survive."

Another blow slammed into the door and several bolts whizzed across the room. Now Student was sure of what she'd seen earlier for a dull purple light had begun to bleed in through the gaps in the now misshapen door. A wave of quiet swept across the room and the consoles along the catwalk flickered and then went out. An instant later, they reactivated filled with black and white static. But they made no sound and behind her she felt Van and Anara's fear like a mantle of shadows about her shoulders.

"Stay behind me," Student said. "And do exactly as I say."

The door shuddered beneath the force of another blow and then burst inward. It flew toward Student and she whipped her glaive up and forward to deflect it just far enough to miss. It crashed into one of the walls and the lights blinked tremulously for a moment.

Student's eyes shifted back to the doorway and there half-hidden in the darkness of the corridor, stood their enemy. She was tall and lithe and as she stepped into the twilight of the central data bank and Student caught a glimpse of deep black hair and unnaturally dark purple eyes that seemed to glitter with something beyond madness. In her hands, the young woman carried a glaive of pitch-black metal, its edge still wreathed in black-purple flame.

"Who is that?" Van breathed.

Student's eyes hardened. There was no doubt about it. "She's what you were reading about just a few minutes ago. She is HT-15. She is Project Rebirth." She tightened her grip on her glaive. "Take the others and fall back. There has to be an emergency exit or something that you can take, right? So go, get out. Now!"

Her words came too late to stop the others in the group from opening fire. The Project moved with unearthly speed and the bullets sailed wide. Then there was a soundless roar as a torrent of dark purple energy flooded down the length of the glaive. Somehow, Student knew what would happen next and she grabbed Van and Anara and dove for cover.

The soundless roar became a scream of raw power and a shockwave of force rippled down the length of the glaive and shattered the air of the central data bank. Silence reigned as the attack struck and the soldiers vanished in a tempest of violet light. The attack continued onward and one of the pillars of the central data bank came apart. Sparks flew and great bolts of energy leapt from the broken column to every corner of the room.

Student got to her feet and took a split-second to glance at Van and Anara. The fear was easy to read on their faces and she steeled herself. They had come here to complete a mission and there was only one way to do it now.

"Go for the door!" Student screamed as she started toward the Project. "I'll find you later!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anara hesitate only for Van to drag her to her feet and pull her toward the door. The Project turned to face them and Student poured every bit of her energy into closing the gap between them. With a cry, she raised her glaive and brought it down with all the strength that she could muster. There was a clang and pain shot up her arms as the Project raised her own weapon to ward off the blow. The floor beneath them cracked and Student saw the Project's muscles tense before the taller girl flung her away.

Student hit one of the consoles and rolled away. Despite the pain, she was glad, because Van and Anara had managed to use her attack on the Project to escape. Then she had eyes only for the Project as the other girl advanced, her glaive wreathed in lilac. Student braced herself and called upon her own power, hoping that it would be enough.

The two weapons met and the air sang a hollow hymn of broken power as the two sets of energies raged against one another. Streams of purple effulgence lashed out to either side of them and though the combined effects of their powers robbed the area of any sound at all, whatever the errant rivers of energy touched disintegrated.

Student pulled away with a growl, her glaive already in motion for her next attack, but the Project was just as fast. Every blow was blocked or dodged and suddenly Student found herself giving ground as the older girl attacked, bringing her greater height and weight to bear as she retaliated in earnest.

Student stumbled back as one of the Project's blows clattered into her glaive with enough force to almost knock her to the ground. As much as she hated to admit it, the Project was incredible and if even a single one of the taller girl's blows got through then the fight would be over. So Student retreated, giving ground as she moved back toward the centre of the central data bank. She dodged away from an attack and the Project's glaive sliced through the railing of the catwalk. An instant later, the Project pulled her weapon free and a long stretch of the railing toppled into the empty space between the pillars.

If only there was a way of getting the Project's weapon away from her. Steeling herself, Student caught the next strike with her own weapon and twisted her wrist. Suddenly the two of them were pressed body to body, their weapons locked between them, but it was a mistake. The taller girl bore down on Student, pushing her back step by step. With a grunt, Student dug her heels in, but she couldn't hold. So instead, she gave way and as the Project stumbled past, Student lashed out with one leg.

The Project tripped and Student's weapon shot forward. Her glaive stabbed into the catwalk and the metal disintegrated as she channelled enough power through it to tear it free before she hurled a wave of energy at her opponent. The Project responded in kind and the room shook again from the force of their powers. This time one of the errant streams of energy rippled upward and there was a flash before the lights failed entirely, the room lit only by the dim glow of the pillars.

In the near darkness that now filled the central data bank, every sound seemed to echo like thunder. Student willed her breathing to slow, to grow quiet as she let her senses expand. The Project wasn't invincible. She could win if she just stayed calm. Eyes narrowed, she listened for the tell tale change of breathing that would precede an attack.

There!

The Project skipped a breath and there was a clang as Student only just managed to ward off the attack. Their weapons skidded off one another amidst a shower of sparks and Student saw the Project's face contort into a look of cold fury before the taller girl pressed her assault. Again and again their glaives met, the dim twilight lit by the staccato flash of metal on metal. A missed block, an awkward dodge, and there were no clash of blades, no spark, and the two of them grew still once more, grew quiet.

And then Student's senses began to scream as a wave of raw power washed over the central data bank. It was stifling, like breathing molten rock. The Project had abandoned any pretence at subtlety. Instead, the taller girl was surrounded by an eldritch violet glow so dark that she seemed to shine like a black/purple sun. The power built around her, writhing, screaming, and seething as it collapsed ever more tightly around the edge of her glaive.

It was obvious what was about to happen, and Student realised in a sudden moment of horrible clarity that she wasn't going to be able to dodge in time. The Project let loose a cry and then flung her glaive forward. Student's entire world exploded into a miasma of agony as the torrent of power washed over her. She was dying, she realised, as her body began to weaken and give way. She was dying.

And then she heard it.

It was something she'd heard before, but it had been muffled then, like the sound of distant semi-somnolent thunder. Now, it carried through to her with crystal clarity. It was the hollow echo that had filled ears and her soul from the moment she'd awakened years ago to a burning village littered corpses. It was the song she heard every time she fought and it was calling to her, whispering to her, crying out to her. It was inside her, a part of her, bubbling, boiling, and howling to be free.

It was every violent urge she'd ever had, every moment of sorrow and pain she'd ever endured. It was the darkness in her heart made real, and everything she was and ever could be. It was the every dream of blood and horror she'd ever had, all her despair given voice and name.

It begged for release.

And this time she did not force it back, did not tamp down the ruthless urge to wreak ruin and destroy. In her mind's eye she saw the whole of Saturn smashed to dust and a Solar System silent and dead. She saw empty worlds orbiting a sun blackened and dark and at the end of its days. She saw a universe still and hollow and lit only by the darkling glitter of black holes. And above all of it there was the silence, the perfect, wonderful silence that was a requiem for the dead and an elegy for the lost.

She let it go.

And then the Project's attack shattered against Student as her own power roared to violent life. Half blind and ears ringing with an unnatural silence, Student stumbled forward and stabbed her glaive toward where she thought the Project should be. There was a hiss and she felt her glaive strike home as the Project's own weapon slipped from her hands.

Student relaxed for a moment and then tensed. The Project was still on her feet. With a growl, the Project grabbed her and sent the two of them plunging through the railing of the catwalk. If she couldn't win, then the Project seemed determined to ensure that Student wouldn't either.

They tumbled head first through the near darkness and Student cried out as the Project grabbed her by the throat. The Project's blood was spilling out of her and still the taller girl retained her merciless strength. Student kicked wildly, but because they were falling her blows lacked any real force. Somehow, she managed to wedge one arm between the Project's and she jabbed at the taller girl's eyes.

The Project screeched and Student landed a solid blow across the Project's face, but still the Project refused to let go and Student could feel herself beginning to black out. No, she thought, not like this. She couldn't die like this. Desperate, she looked around. Below her, lit by the faint glow of the pillars was one of the support pylons. Gathering her remaining strength, she flipped them over so that the Project was beneath her.

They struck the pylon with a crash and smashed right through it and the Project's hold loosened. Finally, Student managed to pry her hands away and she lunged forward to drive her forehead into the other woman's nose. There was a crack and Student felt more blood spill into her hair before the Project replied with a stinging blow across her cheek. Her head jerked to the side and the Project grabbed her by the shirt. A moment later, they slammed into the side of the shaft that held the pillars and waves of agony rolled up Student's back.

Bits of metal broke off the wall as they continued to grind against the side of the shaft and Student screamed as something in her shoulder broke and gave way. Grunting, she drove one knee into the Project's gut and broke away. With her good arm – the other refused to move – she stabbed at the Project's eyes and throat and then kicked her away. The Project flew backward and slammed into one of the pillars. Coils of electricity rippled over the Project's frame and the pillar gave a harsh whine before the circuit breakers tripped and the lights along its length burst. Then the Project jolted loose and continued to fall, bouncing off several pylons before she landed with a crash on one of the catwalks.

Well aware of the fact that she was still falling, Student angled herself toward one of the protruding wires and grabbed on, hoping that her gloves would protect her. The wire shuddered under her weight and then tore loose amidst a shower of sparks before she was jerked heavily to one side and flung onto one of the catwalks. Her injured shoulder howled in protest as the edges of what had to be shattered bone ground against one another. Only vaguely aware of the fact that she was still alive, she lay there, barely sensate until the insistent buzz of her communicator finally got her attention. She rolled onto her back with a groan and turned it on.

"Student, are you there?"

It was her master. Slowly, she sat up. Absently, she noted that she was bleeding all over the floor. "I am here."

"Good." Her master's voice was as calm as ever. "If you are able, you must leave. Where are you?"

She got to her feet and bit back a curse as her injured shoulder hit the wall. In truth, she had no idea where she was, but there was a door nearby with some numbers over it. "I'm in front of Door 17-AN-21." She paused. "I can still walk. How much time do I have left?"

"Ten minutes before we blow the charges." Her master's voice remained calm. "Can you make it?"

She clenched her teeth. "I can make it."

Ten minutes wasn't much, but she could make it. She had to. But first, she had to see to her shoulder. Gingerly, she raised her good hand to feel at it. The shoulder was dislocated and broken. Gritting her teeth, she tried to force the shoulder back into its damaged socket. It didn't work the first time or the second, but on her third try, it snapped back into place and she blinked back tears. The whole thing had taken just over half a minute, but it had felt like forever. Hobbling forward, she kept her hand over her shoulder and started to heal it. There would be time to heal it properly later, but for now she just needed it to be functional. It was then that she noticed that her glaive was gone, along with almost all of her weapons. With little other option, she drew one of the knives she wore at her side.

Glad that she'd all but memorised the layout of the central building, Student made her way toward the closest elevator. At the same time, she was careful to watch out for any other specimens that might have escaped. There was blood on the walls and mangled bodies on the floor, so clearly some had passed this way already. She was halfway to the elevator when her luck ran out. There was a patrol there still looking a little stunned from the monster they'd just killed.

"Halt! Stay where you are!"

There was no time to waste. Ignoring her body's protests, Student shot forward. Calling upon what little power she had left, she hurled streams of violet at the two closest to her. Normally, they'd have been dead within moments, but she was so drained that she could barely manage to stun them. Still, it was enough, for she drove her knife into the throat of one before seizing his gun and opening fire on the others. Her newly healed shoulder creaked with each shot, and she felt a tingle of disgust at how inaccurate her shooting was.

As the last guard fell, she broke into a jagged run. She had only four minutes left and the elevator would take at least two minutes to reach the top. She got into the elevator and waited, as it seemed to crawl its way to the top. Finally, the doors swung open and she sprinted to where she knew the others would be. They met her halfway and the entire group ran toward the edge of the building.

A few second passed before a ship pulled alongside. It was small, but fast, and they leapt into the open cargo bay.

"Blow the charges!" Van shouted as Anara moved to examine Student's wounds more closely.

Behind them, Student heard a series of muffled explosions before huge plumes of super-heated plasma billowed out from the sides of each building. And then came the roar as one by one, the buildings began to topple and collapse in on themselves. The last thing she was saw before her consciousness slipped away was the hint of a smile on her master's face.

X X X

The royal guardsman dropped to his knees in front of the throne. It was tempting to look up, for certainly the High Princess was quite a sight to see. She had the pale skin and lush black-purple hair and piercing violet eyes that typified Saturnian royalty. High cheekbones and lips painted a deep crimson only added to her allure. Indeed, he might even have been forgiven for thinking that she was a pretty face and nothing more, but on Saturn, mere beauty was of little worth – they were not Venusian. No, the High Princess was dangerous, very dangerous, even if she wasn't first in line for the throne.

"Your report was most interesting, captain." Her voice was steel beneath velvet.

He nodded. "Is there is anything that you wish for me to clarify, princess?"

"Raise your head, captain. I do like to look people in the eye when I speak to them."

He did as she asked and flinched. Though her expression did not change, her eyes were lit with such violent intent that even he was terrified.

"Now tell me, captain, how is it that one of my premier research facilities was destroyed in a single night? Moreover, why were none of the perpetrators apprehended?" Her words were liquid menace, silk and venom. "Well?"

He swallowed thickly. "We have yet to ascertain precisely how they executed their plan, but it would seem that they infiltrated the facility through links in the provincial governor's office."

"Is that so?" Her lips curved upward and she paused, considering, as she raised an ebony fan to her lips. "In that case, do have him summoned here."

He nodded and tried to hide his grimace. The poor fool would be lucky if she simply killed him. "It would also seem that the power outage caused by the crash of one of our gunships into the central building resulted in the failure of the systems securing our specimens. The garrison was not prepared for dealing with both the perpetrators and the specimens."

"Really?" She chuckled softly and tilted her head to one side. "I suppose that we could consider this a field test of sorts and at least none of the principal researchers were on site at the time. But tell me, how much have we lost? Did any of the specimens survive the collapse?" Her smile was gentle, yet all the more terrifying because of that.

He tried to remain calm. "Unfortunately, princess, almost all of the specimens were killed. However we were able to retrieve workable sample from almost all of them. We should be able to recreate them within a few weeks of relocating to our new facility."

She smiled beatifically. "Impressive, captain. I knew that I was right to place you in charge." She paused and the faintest of frowns crossed her fine features. "And Project Rebirth? After so many failures, it would be… upsetting to lose our sole success."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he had some good news. "It would seem that she survived. She was gravely wounded, but the heavy armouring around the central data bank shielded her from the worst of the collapse and not all of the charges planted there detonated. She is already en route to our new facility."

"Excellent." The High Princess stepped from the throne and stopped beside him. He froze. "Still, I am puzzled, captain, as I was told that Project Rebirth was quite formidable. How exactly was she neutralised, considering that your report suggests that we were not responsible?"

He winced. "I am not sure. However there were traces of a power not dissimilar to hers in the ruins of the central data bank and in her wounds."

"Oh?" The High Princess arched one delicate brow.

"Yes. Unfortunately, the nature of the Project's powers makes conventional recording equipment largely useless. However a camera in one of the corridors did catch something. The power involved damaged the recording, but we were able to salvage something." He waited for her to nod her acquiescence before he activated a data display unit.

The display unit activated and the captain watched the High Princess' face as discretely as he could. As the young woman – only a teenager – took out a patrol like they were nothing, the High Princess' face broke into a cheerful, cunning smile, one that only broadened when she saw the discharge of purple energy.

"Who is she?" the High Princess asked. "Who is that girl?"

The captain shook his head. "We don't know. There is no record of her in the network or any database that I can access. We believe that she was one of the perpetrators."

"I see." The Princess returned to her throne. "So a girl who can't be more than fourteen or fifteen defeated Project Rebirth? How interesting. Admittedly, the Project is far from perfect, but that is no small accomplishment." She paused. "Keep an eye out for her, captain, as I've no doubt she'll appear again." She smirked. "If she is sighted, do not kill her. I want her alive. Someone like her could prove most useful to me and if not, well, she looks as though she could be of some use to the program." She waved one hand diffidently. "You are dismissed, captain. Keep me apprised of events."

Alone, the High Princess fingered the stylised dark purple band around her arm. The setbacks were unfortunate, but she had time. Her brother might think her a fool, but she saw through his plans. He wanted the throne for himself and he was willing to deal with the Lunar Empire to get it. Her father on the other hand, wanted to be free of the Empire but was too stupid to see how to do it.

She chuckled softly. What neither her brother or her father understood was that such matters required a sure but delicate touch – a woman's touch. After all, she thought with a smile, it would be only fitting for the Empress of the Lunar Empire to meet her end at the hands of another woman.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

Let me start by saying that this chapter took ages to write. Not only because of how long it is (it is easily the longest chapter in the story so far), but also because I couldn't stop tweaking it and even now there are still some things that I want to change. Originally, I had planned to break this up into at least two chapters, but reading through it, I'm glad that I didn't, because the whole thing flows much better as a single (long) chapter.

Anyway, I have to admit that I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Any chapter with some fight scenes is generally fun to write, and this chapter had plenty of them. This chapter also gave me a chance to flesh out the history of this timeline a bit more and to start setting the scene for what we already know will happen (i.e., we already know that Saturn will be destroyed from what's going on in the other timelines, it's just a matter of finding out how).

Finally, I'd like to comment about the long delay. To put it bluntly, work has really been busy lately. There is some really big stuff due in soon and that means that I can't spend as much time writing as I would like.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Setsuna felt a bittersweet smile steal across her lips as she tightened her hold, just a little, on the young woman curled up against her. It had been a long, long time since she'd just held Hotaru, not since she'd been a little girl, really. It was strange, but she felt the most peculiar mix of sorrow and pride run through her as she realised that Hotaru was now almost as tall as she was. Time never stopped, not for her, or for the people she loved.

It was almost noon now, and the sun cast a bright golden glow through the window. Yet, despite the fact that she was normally an early riser, she had no inclination at all to get up. Perhaps it was because of all that had happened during the night, from Hotaru's sudden arrival and subsequent confession, to her own words about her past. In the warm light of day, it seemed almost surreal, and yet, it had happened and the words once spoken could not be taken back. Absentmindedly, she ran one hand through Hotaru's hair and she smiled faintly as the other woman made a pleased sound and snuggled closer. She hadn't planned for things to go the way they had, but perhaps she hadn't made quite so big a mess of them as she'd thought.

Soon though, Hotaru would wake up and then they'd have to deal with things. But for now, at least, just for now, she'd push all of those concerns aside. Hotaru shifted against her and Setsuna couldn't help but chuckle as the purple-haired woman mumbled something about wanting five more minutes of sleep. However, her mirth vanished a moment later as the door of Hotaru's bedroom opened.

For one long moment, Michiru simply stood in the doorway. There was no small amount of surprise on the blue haired woman's face and had the situation been less serious, Setsuna would have smirked and perhaps thrown a playfully cryptic remark at her friend. Instead, she schooled her features into a look of measured calm. Anything else, she suspected, would only make things worse.

"Was there something you wanted?" Setsuna asked, careful to keep her voice down.

Michiru's eyes narrowed a fraction, but when she spoke, her voice was calm, perhaps even a little sad. "I had a feeling that I might find you here."

Setsuna nodded, pausing for a moment as she realised that she was still running her fingers through Hotaru's hair. "Hotaru came in early this morning. I would have woken you and Haruka but…" She stopped for a second to think about how best to phrase things. "There were things that she wanted to discuss with me in private."

"I see." From the tight expression on Michiru's face, Setsuna could tell that their discussion was far from over. Thankfully, though, Michiru seemed to realise that now was not the best time to have an argument. "I'll let Haruka know that Hotaru is back and I'll try to keep her as calm as I can, but you know how Haruka can get…"

Setsuna chuckled mirthlessly. "I'm well aware of what Haruka thinks of me at the moment, but we need to handle this carefully." She bit her lip gently. It was at times like this that she truly felt the weight of all the centuries she'd seen. "When Hotaru wakes, we'll talk. I'll let her decide how much she wants to tell you two."

"All right." Michiru put one hand on the door and for a moment her usually elegant manner was gone, replaced by cold deadliness. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Setsuna." And then she turned and left, shutting the door behind her.

Setsuna closed her eyes. Michiru's words were unnecessary. More than anyone else, Setsuna wanted to believe that she was doing the right thing. Glancing down at Hotaru again, she marvelled at how innocent she looked in her sleep. Just looking at the purple haired young woman, it was impossible to tell that she had the ability to wipe out entire planets, to quite literally annihilate civilisation in the blink of an eye.

It took almost half an hour for Hotaru to finally stir. Her eyes opened slowly and Setsuna almost laughed as the younger woman let loose a muffled squeak of surprise.

"Setsuna!" Hotaru yelped before she shot up, stumbling back on her haunches to try and put some distance between them. Unfortunately, not only did she not realise how close she was to the edge of the bed, she was clearly still feeling the effects of the previous night. Before she could fall off the bed, Setsuna reached out and tugged her back to safety.

"Careful," Setsuna murmured with a small smile on her face. "A bump on the head is the last thing you need right now." 

Hotaru flushed and mumbled something under her breath that Setsuna didn't quite catch, although she was fairly sure that it was less than complimentary. At the same time, Hotaru began to very self-consciously adjust her pyjamas. Setsuna bit back a smile. It was reassuring to see Hotaru acting very much like an embarrassed teenager. Certainly, it was preferable to seeing Hotaru in torment over her origins.

"Um… good morning," Hotaru said at last.

Setsuna smiled softly and was struck by the sudden urge to ruffle Hotaru's hair. However, she decided that it was probably for the best if she didn't. Hotaru looked embarrassed enough. Still, perhaps a little light teasing was in order. It would certainly be better than getting straight to the more serious matters they had to attend to. "It's a little past midday, actually, Hotaru, so perhaps good afternoon would be more appropriate."

Hotaru huffed. "Well, good afternoon then. Although I suppose you would be concerned about the time."

"Yes, I suppose that does make sense given my occupation," Setsuna said. "So, how are you feeling?"

It was a question with many, many meanings, and Hotaru took a few moments to come up with a reply. "I'm okay, I guess." She rubbed her hands together and Setsuna's gaze flicked down to Hotaru's knuckles. The skin there was still an angry red, although much of the swelling had gone down.

"Here, let me have another look at that," Setsuna said as she reached for Hotaru's hands. Gingerly, Hotaru extended her hands. As gently as she could, Setsuna examined Hotaru's hands, knowing from personal experience how painful they were likely to be. The younger woman let out a rough hiss as Setsuna ran her fingers along the battered knuckles and Setsuna murmured an apology. "Good, I was worried that I might have missed something last night, but you haven't actually broken anything." Impulsively, she pressed her lips against Hotaru's knuckles and smiled. "A kiss to make things better. But, really, they'll be sore for a few days, at least. Later, if you want, we can get something for the pain."

Hotaru fidgeted and pulled her hands back into her own lap. "No, it's okay. It doesn't hurt too much." She paused and Setsuna waited patiently for her to say what she needed to say. "About last night…"

"Yes?" Setsuna asked.

"Thank you." The words were barely a whisper, but Hotaru's eyes shone with emotion and her lips quivered. "I mean it, Setsuna. Thank you."

Setsuna suddenly found it very hard to meet Hotaru's eyes. "Don't worry about it. It was the least I could do, all things considered." She drew in a deep breath and when she looked back at Hotaru, her gaze was calm but serious. "Hotaru, we do need to think about what you want to do now."

"What I want to do?" Hotaru said slowly. Then she closed her eyes and Setsuna felt her heart clench at the look of bitterness that swept across Hotaru's features. "I don't know what to do, Setsuna. I mean… what will Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama think if they found out what I did?"

"They love you, Hotaru," Setsuna said firmly. "Nothing could ever happen that could change that. Still, if you don't want to tell them, I won't force you." Setsuna chuckled softly. "I haven't exactly handled things well so far, so I'm going to let you choose what you want to do."

Hotaru nodded and fell silent, deep in thought. Finally, she spoke. "I… I think I want to tell them." She rubbed her knuckles. "You three are all so important to me and…" She trailed off as her stomach let loose a loud grumble.

This time, Setsuna couldn't hold back her laughter. Getting to her feet, she flashed Hotaru a small smile. "Perhaps it's time that we headed downstairs. Michiru should have something ready for us to eat and if we wait any long, I fear Haruka will kick down your door demanding answers."

Hotaru giggled. "Haruka-papa has done that before though, so I guess we should head downstairs."

As Setsuna had expected, Michiru did have something set out for them to eat. In fact, there was quite a lot there, although Setsuna wasn't sure how much of a mood to eat she'd be in once all was said and done. Still, if the look on Hotaru's face as she spied the waffles was anything to go by, at least one person was looking forward to a big brunch.

"Good afternoon, Hotaru," Haruka said warmly as she looked up from her newspaper. "Why don't you just get started? I'm sure you must be hungry?"

As Hotaru did just that, the blonde shifted her attention to Setsuna. "Hello, Setsuna."

Setsuna almost flinched at the icy tone of Haruka's voice. The other woman was clearly not pleased with her and if the look on the blonde's face was anything to go by, she wanted nothing more than to rip Setsuna limb from limb. "Good afternoon, Haruka."

"Have a seat, Setsuna." Haruka reached for a piece of toast, but her gaze never left Setsuna. "You'd better not run off before we have a chance to talk."

Talk? Setsuna doubted very much that Haruka simply wanted to talk. Still, she had no intention of leaving. "I'm not going anywhere, Haruka. Perhaps you could pass the coffee?"

The blonde spluttered for a moment and then passed the coffee.

The meal was, needless to say, an awkward affair. Haruka spent most of it shooting Setsuna dark looks and Michiru seemed torn between telling Haruka to stop it and joining in. Only Hotaru seemed unaffected and that, Setsuna guessed, was probably just a by-product of how hungry she was.

Still, Setsuna didn't let the less than friendly atmosphere bother her too much. She'd been through much worse in her time. Diplomatic dinners in the Lunar Empire had, for instance, not only involved people who actually would kill each other given the barest opportunity, they were also several hours long and involved hours of subtle and not so subtle verbal sparring in addition to glares, frowns, and a host of other expressions, both real and contrived.

"Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama," Hotaru said as she finished her food. "We need to talk."

That seemed to be just the opening that Haruka was waiting for because the blonde was very, very quick to reply. "Hotaru, what happened last night?"

Hotaru looked taken aback by the abruptness of the question and Setsuna's smiled faintly as Michiru sent a glare at Haruka, one that the senshi of Uranus actually wilted a little under. "I'll tell you what happened, Haruka-papa, but you have to promise to let me finish before you say anything, okay?" She paused and looked down at the table. "You'll probably get mad, but –"

"Get mad?" Haruka barked as she shoved away from the table and shot to her feet. Her chair toppled to the ground behind her with a bang as she turned furious blue eyes on Setsuna. "Just what the hell happened? What did you do? And don't you dare lie, I know you were in Hotaru's room this morning!"

"Haruka," Michiru barked. "That's enough." And then, much more softly, she added, "Please, just let Hotaru talk."

Haruka looked like she wanted to say more but Michiru put one hand on her arm to calm her. Making a disgusted sound, she turned to pick up her chair and slumped back into it. "Fine, but if you hurt Hotaru again, Setsuna, so help me, I'll make you sorry."

Setsuna ignored the worried look in Hotaru's purple eyes and met Haruka's gaze evenly. "If I hurt her again, then you're welcome to make me sorry."

Hotaru coughed nervously. "If I could begin?"

Setsuna watched both Haruka and Michiru carefully as Hotaru told them what had happened the previous night. Interestingly, Hotaru told them an edited version of events, although Setsuna could hardly blame her for not wanting to describe the brutal, bloody nature of the battle in full. Indeed, she wasn't about to step in and tell the others just how bloody Hotaru had been when she'd arrived.

As Hotaru told them about the battle, Michiru's face grew so pale that Setsuna wondered if she was about to faint. Haruka, on the other hand, looked enraged, her lips drawn back in a snarl as she clenched her fists so tightly that she'd probably drawn blood. When Hotaru told them about how Setsuna had cared for her, Setsuna nearly flinched as both Michiru and Haruka pinned her with their gaze. Their expressions were a curious mix of gratitude, sadness, and something else that Setsuna couldn't quite identify. At least Haruka no longer looked like she wanted to kill her.

"So… what are we going to do about this?" Haruka asked once Hotaru had finished. "This whole thing is just one big damn mess."

Setsuna grimaced. It was never a good sign when Haruka started swearing, at least in front of Hotaru. "Based on what Hotaru has told me, I think that whoever these people are, they are trying to reawaken Saturn."

"But why?" Hotaru asked. "Why would they want her to come out?"

Setsuna didn't miss the way that Hotaru said 'her'. The other woman still hadn't quite come to terms with the fact that like the others, she and her senshi persona were, in some way, one and the same. Of course, none of the others had a senshi persona with quite so much baggage. "I'm not sure, but I might have an idea."

Haruka scowled. "From the look on your face, Setsuna, I don't think I'm going to like your idea."

"Haruka," Michiru chided. "Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

Setsuna gave Michiru a grateful look. "In any case, I think that these people might be after Saturn's powers."

"What do you mean?" Hotaru asked.

Setsuna reached across the table for an apple and held it up. "Haruka, if you were to cut this apple with your Space Sword what would happen?"

"Huh?" Haruka looked at Setsuna strangely, but when she saw that Setsuna was indeed serious, she frowned. "Well… I guess the apple would get cut."

"Yes." Setsuna nodded. "Would anything else happen to the apple? Or rather, could you do anything else to the apple?"

"I could cut it up into lots of little pieces," Haruka said. "Or I could blow it up, I suppose." She frowned. "What's your point?"

"Everything you've said is correct." Setsuna's expression darkened. "However, the Silence Glaive doesn't work like most other weapons. In its true form it can cut through anything, but more than that, it can cut through the fabric of reality itself." Silence fell over the table and Setsuna pressed on. "That is how the Silence Wall works. It may look like a wall, but what it really is, is a tear in reality through which no energy or matter can pass. That's why it can repel just about any form of attack." She frowned. "Taken to the extreme, I imagine that the Silence Glaive could even cut a hole between dimensions."

Hotaru gasped and Setsuna realised that the younger woman must already have come to the same conclusion as her. It took Haruka and Michiru a moment longer to catch on, but both of them looked horrified as understanding finally dawned.

"You mean… they want me to cut a hole between this dimension and wherever they're from?" Hotaru whispered. "Is that what you're saying?"

Setsuna closed her eyes. "I can't be sure, but it fits with what we've seen from them so far. Creating portals between different dimensions is incredibly difficult, but if Saturn is fully reawakened, I believe that she could use the Glaive to cut a path between our dimension and theirs." She pursed her lips. "However, that still leaves the fact that your attacker was dressed like someone from the Saturnian Royal Guard."

"Wait a second," Haruka said. "Didn't you say that Saturn destroyed the whole planet?"

Setsuna glanced at Hotaru out of the corner of her eye. "Yes, that's right. Saturn destroyed the planet along with everyone on it. That just begs the question then, of why Hotaru's attacker was dressed like that and where exactly he came from?"

"I could find out," Hotaru murmured. Instantly, all of their eyes were on her. "I mean… if I remembered everything, then I might be able to find out more about these people, right?"

Setsuna nodded slowly. "Possibly. If these people are from Saturn, then Sailor Saturn is the only who would know them. However, you have to realise, Hotaru, that there are risks involved. If you were to lose control…"

Hotaru trembled, but her eyes were twin pools of violet steel. "I know, but I have to find out." She dragged in a deep breath and her gaze fell to the table as she brought one hand up to her chest. "I can feel her inside me, you know." She swallowed thickly. "It's like Saturn is clawing at the inside of my chest, just trying to rip her way out. Every time I close my eyes, I can see her and she looks just like me, but her eyes, her eyes are just so cold and so angry and so hurt." Her words came out in something close to a sob. "But she's still a part of me and maybe, just maybe if I remember then I'll be able to understand why she did all those things and then I won't feel so afraid, I won't feel like such a stranger in my own body anymore!"

For several minutes no one said a thing and the only sound in the dining room was Hotaru's ragged breathing. Finally, Setsuna cleared her throat and spoke. "If you are sure that you want to remember, then there is a place that we can go to which may help you."

Michiru's eyes widened. "Are you talking about opening the Gates of Time?"

"Not exactly, Michiru, but close." Setsuna's mouth firmed into a thin line.

"I don't like this," Haruka growled. "I don't like this one bit." She looked at Hotaru. "You didn't see what Saturn was like the last time she got control, Hotaru if she –"

Hotaru reached across and squeezed Haruka's hand. "I need to do this. If I just leave things as they are, I might get attacked again or even lose control." She smiled softly. "I don't want to hurt anyone else."

Haruka ran one hand through her hair. "Damn it. Fine, but promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise." Hotaru glanced at Setsuna. "Besides, Setsuna will be with me."

Setsuna stood. "If you're ready, Hotaru, we can go now. However, you're going to need to transform first."

X X X

There was a moment of disorientation as the world faded away and then Saturn was no longer standing inside her house, but somewhere else. Inside her head, she could hear old Saturn and she had to force her other self's words back as she struggled for control. As her head slowly cleared, she took a long look around.

In every direction that she looked for as far as she could see, there was nothing but mists and shadows. For a second, she felt panic well up and with it old Saturn, but she forced the feeling back. She would be fine. Pluto had promised that she would be fine. Taking several deep breaths, she did her best to think of something mundane. Homework, she thought, yes, she had homework due in for most of her subjects and…

"Saturn." She nearly sagged with relief as Pluto appeared, Time Staff in hand. "We need to move. Stay close to me."

Saturn nodded and followed Pluto as the taller woman began to walk, although with all the mist, she couldn't tell which direction they were walking in, or even what they were walking toward. Yet now that she had a chance to really look at things, the mist wasn't just floating around. No, it was covering things. Squinting, she peered into the mists to try and make out what they were hiding, but Pluto stopped her and put one hand on her shoulder.

"Don't look too closely at the mist," Pluto murmured.

"But why?" Saturn asked. "What is this place?"

"This place?" Pluto swept her Time Staff in a broad, swift arc and for a moment the mists billowed back. For one endless moment, the scenery hidden by the mists was revealed. Buildings rose up above them on all sides, towering structures of a design at once foreign but familiar to Saturn. Just as quickly those buildings vanished, replaced by titan towers of pitch-black stone, which were in turn replaced by flowing, graceful spires of white marble and shimmering crystal. Above them, countless stars blossomed and faded, coming apart in showers of flame and ruin and coming together in swirling auroras of white-hot radiance. And then the moment passed and the mists rolled in again and everything was gone, hidden once more. "A more interesting question would be when and where is this place."

Saturn frowned. Perhaps it was there surroundings, but Pluto was slipping back into her usual mysterious self and that did not sit well with her. "Fine, when and where are we?"

"When I first learned about the Gates of Time, one of things that I most wanted to know was how they could be used to see anywhere at anytime." Pluto continued to walk and Saturn had no choice but to follow her. On either side of them the mists roiled and Saturn could have sworn that she recognised some of the shapes they took. "The answer, I found out, is actually quite simple. The Gates of Time do not exist in a single time or place. Rather they exist at all times and at all places." Pluto gestured at the mist around them. "The Gates of Time represent the nexus of all possible timelines, a place where fate and chance stand side by side. The mists are a way of hiding what is, has been, and could be. To look upon all those things at once would drive any normal person insane." Pluto smiled coldly. "But then again, I am far from normal."

"Are we going to use the Gates?" Saturn asked. She was suddenly cold and there was a strange sensation in the back of her mind, like a memory dragging its way to the fore through centuries, perhaps even millennia of forgetfulness. Somehow, she was certain that she'd been here before.

"No." Pluto shook her head. "To use the Gates to travel back or forward would involve a price far higher than either of us could afford. However, just being near them should be enough."

"What do you mean?" Saturn wanted to turn back, but she'd come too far now for that.

"Like I said, the Gates are a nexus for all possible timelines, past, future, and present. Just being near them should make it easier for you to delve into old Saturn's memories." Pluto paused. "Brace yourself, we are here."

And then, just like that, the Gates of Time were there. Saturn stopped and then took a slow step back as she took in the sight of them. She'd seen them before, but never had they looked like this. The Gates towered over her, extending as high as she could see, up through the milling storm of clouded mist above them. In the same way, they extended to either side for as far as she could see, their edges lost in the mists and shadows.

How could something so huge possibly exist? Just looking at the Gates sent a thrill of awe and terror through Saturn. The Gates seemed to shimmer before her eyes, to glow with a light that was more than visual. For a second, the Gates before her were gone, replaced instead by a titan hall filled with other Gates, each as tall and broad as the original and so many in number that her mind felt that it was breaking. And in front of each of the Gates was another version of her and Pluto. It was like looking into a fractured mirror and she felt the bitter taste of bile well up at the back of her throat. But then Pluto shook her and the image was gone and she was once more staring at the Gates of Time.

"Are you all right?" Pluto asked.

Saturn gagged slightly. "What was that?"

"What you saw was the true nature of the Gates of Time." Pluto's eyes were distant. "Don't stare too long at them or you'll find yourself lost in what you see." She sighed. "If you are ready, we can begin."

Saturn nodded. "What do I need to do?"

Pluto inclined her head at the Gates. "Just touch the Gates."

Saturn's eyes widened. After what she'd just seen, that was the absolute last thing she wanted. Still, she'd come this far. Slowly, she crept forward and extended one hand to rest against the weathered surface of the Gates. At first there was nothing, only the feel of cold, weather-beaten stone beneath her fingertips and then there was a flash of eldritch crimson light as the Gates lit up like a thousand ancient stars exploding all at once.

X X X

"_You did well, Student."_

_Student looked up at her master from the bed where she was lying. Her injuries were taking longer to heal than she would have liked, but right now she found it hard to care. For perhaps the first time she could remember, there was a look of tenderness on her master's face. He was proud of her, she realised._

"_Thank you, master." She tried to sit up, but he stopped her. _

"_You have more than earned your rest and… your name." His lips curved into a small, melancholy smile. "You are a child no longer, and your name shall not be Student anymore." His eyes glittered darkly. "From now on, you shall be Requiem."_

"_Requiem?" she repeated softly. "Why… why that for a name?"_

_He closed his eyes. "It is a fitting name, don't you think, considering all that took place in Requiem City."_

"_But there is more?" she asked. There had to be, she knew her master well, and he wouldn't have picked a name for that reason alone. _

"_Yes, of course." He turned away from her. "Why do you fight?"_

"_For my family," Student growled. "For what was done to them."_

_He turned back to face her and what tenderness had been on his face was gone. In its stead there was only the emptiness she'd become so familiar with, the cold fire that burned inside both of them. "A requiem is a song to honour the dead. Let every blow you strike, every life you take be a requiem for the family that you have lost." He met her gaze evenly. "Let your life be a requiem for your family and let your name be a requiem for all that you have lost."_

_Student said nothing for a few seconds and then she nodded. "Requiem?" It was a question, the way she said it, but when she spoke again, her voice was firm. "Yes, a good name, Requiem."_

"Requiem, do you copy?"

Requiem shook herself from her memories. It had been four years since the day she'd received her new name and since then she and her master had become increasingly involved in the struggle against the government. Still, she was careless to let herself get caught up in old memories, especially since she had a mission to attend to.

She reached up to adjust the glasses that she wore. They served as both part of her disguise and as her communicator. "Anara, I copy. What is going on?"

The other woman's voice came through the communicator with a hint of static. "The Mercurians have arrived. You need to get moving."

Requiem's eyes narrowed. "Understood."

Leaving the shabby bar that she'd chosen to hide in, Requiem pushed out onto the street. Outside, she fell into step with the throng that moved up and down the grimy street. This was one of the reasons that she hated space stations. Even the best of them tended to be crowded and years spent in the open wilderness of the Rift made her uneasy in anything but the thinnest of crowds. It didn't help either, that it was hard to keep a good eye on her surroundings with so many people about, and her keener senses did little more than exacerbate the sights and smells of recycled air and artificial sunlight.

Still, she'd asked for this mission. In the four years since their attack on Requiem City, the government had only accelerated their research into weapons development. Worse still, she'd heard rumours and seen evidence that they'd begun active field-testing of Project Rebirth. A grimace crossed her face. Even a poor copy of Sailor Saturn was more than a match for almost anything.

The government had also begun to make contact with other researchers, which was why she was on an old, scrappy space station built on some asteroid somewhere between Saturn and Jupiter. If her information was correct, then several scientists involved in Project Rebirth would be making a deal here to acquire Mercurian gene manipulation technology that could more than double the speed of their research.

Her job then, was simple. Follow the transaction, identify those involved, and then destroy the equipment before eliminating everyone. Had the meeting been taking place on Saturn, it was likely that a larger force would have been deployed to deal with it, but in a place like this, a large group of armed men would easily have been spotted. Still, she was more than enough to deal with a half dozen scientists and their guards.

She followed the stream of people moving through the area of the space station dedicated to shops and entertainment and took an elevator down to the decks reserved for shipping and trade. When the elevator stopped, she turned off her communicator and slipped into the shadows. For a second, the air around her glowed faintly purple as she loosened her hold on her power just enough to dampen any sound she might make and to pull her a little tighter into the shadows. A grim smile crossed her face as she made her way over to the dock where the meeting was going to take place. It was poorly lit and isolated, perfect, really, for what she'd have to do.

Rather than try and sneak in through the large main doors of the dock, she crept around to the side and went in through one of the maintenance doors. Inside was a medium sized vessel and from the clean, economical lines of its design, it was easy to see that it was Mercurian. There were cargo boxes scattered around the dock and she used them for cover as she crept closer. The scientists were already there, along with perhaps a score of soldiers. They were looking intently through the contents of several boxes as they conversed with four Mercurians.

From what Requiem could tell, the equipment in the boxes matched her information. She frowned faintly. Gene manipulation was strictly controlled in the Lunar Empire and almost completely reserved for the elimination of genetic illnesses. In the past, the Empire had sought to manufacture the perfect soldier, but the resulting warriors had been plagued with mental and physical instability. Attempts had also been made to clone the senshi, but not one of them had succeeded. Most likely it was the relative success of the government in trying to clone Sailor Saturn that had persuaded the Mercurians to break the law.

She waited a few more minutes for the guards to relax a bit before she crept even closer. Yes, she recognised a few of the faces from the dossiers that Anara had complied. The Mercurians, on the other hand, she did not recognise although they did have the blue hair and slender build that was typical of people from Mercury. However, they were probably also scientists, based on the way that they were talking with the government scientists and the fact that they looked far too soft to have seen any real combat.

As the meeting began to wind down, she took a few moments to gauge the distance between her and them. It would take her perhaps three seconds to cover that distance. In that time, the guards would have a chance to fire on her, but once she reached them it would be relatively simple to deal with them. If she used her powers to cut the lights first, then she'd have an even bigger advantage with her keener vision. She was just about to move when something happened that she did not expect.

The scientist closest to her exploded. Or perhaps, exploded wasn't quite the right word. One moment he was there, the next his body was gone, replaced by a jagged formation of crystal that ripped him limb from limb and splattered his blood across the floor. Frost spread across the floor near the mangled scientist and she realised that it hadn't been crystal that had torn him apart, but ice. The others panicked and a split-second later, two more of the scientists were gone, tall, jagged spires of ice replacing them.

As the blood on the floor began to freeze into little rivers of scarlet ice, someone stepped out from the shadows by the main doors of the dock. Requiem felt a chill run down her spine as the person responsible stepped into the flickering, erratic light. The person responsible was a young woman with light blue hair cut to just below her chin. Her eyes were a darker blue that would have been quite pretty were it not for the absolute coldness in them. An aqua coloured cloak was draped about her slender frame and beneath it Requiem could just make out navy blue tunic and pants. However, it was the simple golden tiara that the woman wore that gave her identity away. It was studded with a single blue gem.

Sailor Mercury.

Requiem forced herself to remain calm as she considered her options. There had been nothing to suggest that a senshi would be present and she knew that it would be a very, very bad idea to engage one of the Empress' lapdogs without any prior preparation. It didn't help either that Sailor Mercury was regarded as a cold-blooded genius, someone who preferred ruthlessly efficient strategy rather than brute force.

The guards took one look at Sailor Mercury and then opened fire. The senshi breezed to the side as a shard of ice formed in her hands. With a flick of her wrist, Mercury threw the shard up and into the roof of the dock. For a moment, Requiem wondered just why the senshi had done that before water began to spray down on everything. Her eyes narrowed. Of course, Mercury had just severed one of the water pipes running through the roof of the dock and more water meant that it would be easier for her to use her powers.

As the guards opened fire again, Mercury kicked out at the water pooling at her feet. The spray crystallised into jagged spikes of ice in midair and three of the guards went down, impaled by the attack. As the other began to try and get behind cover, Mercury gestured and Requiem felt the air ripple as the senshi's power rustled through it.

A guard came apart in a shower of gore and Requiem's gut clenched as she realised how Mercury had killed the scientists earlier. The majority of the human body was made of water and she was using her powers to freeze that water into ice. And ice, of course, expanded when it froze. It was, Requiem thought, a monstrously efficient way to kill someone.

From there, the battle turned into a slaughter as Mercury methodically picked off the rest of the guards and then the scientists and Mercurians. As the water from the burst pipe slowed to a trickle, the senshi prodded one of the downed scientists with her foot. The man gave a low groan and Requiem realised that Mercury hadn't killed him. In fact, now that Requiem looked more closely, Mercury had also spared one or two of the other scientists and Mercurians. One of them actually managed to get to his knees and groan as he clutched at the stump of his severed arm, but Mercury ignored him. Her ice had frozen the wound shut so there was no risk of him bleeding out.

"Don't bother," Mercury said softly as she turned away from the scientist. "You can't go anywhere in your condition." With that the senshi began to look through the boxes of equipment. Suddenly, however, she stopped and Requiem felt that chill run through her once again.

Mercury gestured toward her and Requiem leapt out into the open as ice enveloped the area she'd been in only a moment ago.

"Interesting," Mercury remarked, voice devoid of emotion. "You're not with them, but you've probably been here the entire time." She paused and tilted her head to one side and Requiem got the impression that she was studying her with the same dispassionate interest that she might study a new puzzle with. "Wait. I think I recognise you. Your name is Requiem. You're a wanted terrorist on Saturn."

Requiem shifted into a fighting stance, her glaive held out in front of her. "And if I am?"

Mercury shrugged and lifted her hand. A long, thin shard of ice formed, its shape shifting until it had taken on the length and appearance of a sword. "I assume that you're here to either capture or eliminate these men. However, I can allow you to do neither. They have committed crimes against the Empire and must be punished accordingly."

"How do you know about them?" Requiem asked. Already she and Mercury had begun to circle one another.

"The Empress knows many things. The loyalty of the Royal Family of Saturn has long been less than satisfactory. She tolerates them simply because there is no significantly better alternative. However, it wouldn't do for them to grow too confident. That is why you and your group have proven to be quite useful. The more the Royal Family has to worry about groups like yours, the less time they can spend causing trouble for the Empire." The senshi tightened her grip on her makeshift sword. "Someone like you could prove to be quite useful to the Empress if our analyses of your abilities are correct. Would you considering joining us?"

Joining the senshi? Requiem felt her blood run cold. The Empress was little better than the Royal Family of Saturn, the only difference was that rather than despoiling one planet, she had an entire empire to ruin. "No."

"I see." Mercury lifted her sword. "A pity then."

Faster than Requiem thought possible, Mercury closed the gap between them. The blue haired woman's sword flashed forward and Requiem barely managed to get her glaive up in time to parry the attack. Even so, she struggled to keep her footing, driven back by the sheer force behind the blow. It had to be a result of Mercury's powers as a senshi because no normal person should have the strength to match someone who'd spent as long in the warping presence of the Rift as Requiem had.

"You have good reflexes," Mercury commented as she pressed forward again, her ice sword a blur of motion as she struck again and again.

Requiem said nothing. Words, she'd learned very early on from her master, were wasted in most battles. Yet even with her full concentration devoted to the fight, she was hard pressed to find a weakness in Mercury's attack. The other woman fought with unearthly precision, each strike chosen to maximise the damage she could inflict while also minimising the openings that Requiem could use to counterattack.

Frowning, Requiem leapt backward to try and put some distance between them so that she could bring her glaive's longer reach into play. However, Mercury caught on to her plan immediately and darted forward to cut her off. They locked weapons and Requiem grit her teeth as the senshi pushed against her.

"You use your glaive very well. There aren't many who would have lasted as long as you have." The senshi lifted one foot and kicked the water pooled at their feet. "However, I am curious to see if you can handle this."

Requiem's eyes widened as she felt the water splash onto her cloak. A split-second later a wave of cold surged over her. With a growl, she gathered her power and shoved Mercury away. At the same time, she tore her cloak from her shoulders and flung it aside. The garment froze in midair and then shattered as it hit the ground.

Mercury's eyes glittered with interest. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd react in time to deal with that." She smiled coldly. "And that power of yours. Just for a moment there, I felt it. It's not like anything I've seen before. I wonder what else it can do." She stepped forward once again, a wave of cold rolling off her. "Do you think you could show it to me?"

Requiem's gaze flicked onto the floor for a moment. The water between them had begun to freeze and the temperature of air was also dropping rapidly. Whatever Mercury was about to do, it was going to be much more dangerous than anything she'd done so far. Her lips tightened into a thin line. She wasn't sure if she could stop Mercury from attacking, but at the very least, she could try and get rid of the water around them that would only make things easier for the senshi. It didn't hurt either that she was about to do should also take care of the scientists still around, as well.

With a low growl, Requiem reached deep into herself for the power that had been there for almost as long as she could remember. It answered her almost immediately, a wave of cold hatred settling deep in her gut as a dull ringing filled her ears. Violet light flickered in the air around her and she saw Mercury look uncertain for the first time in their fight. Silence rolled off Requiem, a thick, ominous silence, as the lights above them flickered madly.

"What is that power?" Mercury's gaze was almost hungry as a visor appeared over her face, its surface lit with countless numbers and letters as she tried to analyse what she was seeing.

Requiem said nothing. Instead, she let the power she'd been trying so hard to control spill outward in a torrent of noiseless devastation. The attack rippled outward and everything it touched disintegrated. The water vanished, consumed, and a moment later the scientists, guards, and Mercurians followed, all of them, living and dead, annihilated by the force that Requiem had unleashed.

At the centre of it all, Requiem watched as Mercury maintained her position. The senshi was staring at the destruction with a look of almost child-like glee. Only when the attack grew too close for her to ignore, did Mercury leap out of the way. The attack continued to expand until it struck the roof of the dock. There was a flash as the attack severed one of the main power conduits running through the roof. An instant later, the severed power conduit ruptured and a huge explosion consumed the dock.

X X X

Mercury dusted herself off and turned her eyes back to the ruined dock. Part of her was less than pleased that her mission had been interrupted. After all, she was supposed to bring at least one of the scientists and one the Mercurians back for questioning. On the other hand, she had come across something that she personally found far more interesting. Yes, she thought, as she watched a darkly clad figure emerge from the flames of the dock and steal away into the shadows, she had definitely come across something that merited further investigation. No doubt, the Empress would find confirmation that Requiem really did wield powers similar to those attributed to Sailor Saturn most interesting. Indeed, it would certainly explain the interest that the Royal Family of Saturn had taken in Requiem.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

So, let me start by apologising for the long delay. There are a couple of reasons that I could give (e.g., things happening in real life and my writing stories for Final Fantasy XIII), but the point I really want to get across is that this story is not cancelled. Indeed, I hope to return to a more regular updating schedule now that I have resumed writing it. Rest assured that I do want to finish this story.

Turning now to the actual content of the chapter, I have to admit that I'm feeling a little rusty. Writing Westerns is certainly quite different from writing the mix of science fiction and fantasy that is present in this particular story. My main goal for this chapter was to resolve some of the tension between Hotaru and her family and to reveal more of her past. I also wanted to reveal a bit more about Pluto's role as the Guardian of Time. In keeping with the rest of the story, the Gates of Time are not quite the same as in the anime and manga, rather they are somewhat darker and more terrible, which is something that I think is quite fitting given their power and function.

The introduction of one of the senshi from Requiem's time is something I thought hard about before doing, but it felt right. The contrast between the Sailor Mercury that Requiem encountered and the Sailor Mercury that Hotaru knows was deliberate. The senshi of the past were fully-fledged warriors who were utterly devoted to the Empress, a contrast to the friendship shared between the modern senshi.

As always, I appreciated your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Requiem's master had always warned her against becoming too attached to any particular weapon. A weapon could be taken from her or even turned against her by a skilled opponent. It was far better to become skilled with all weapons, to learn to use even commonplace objects like furniture or cutlery as weapons in their own right. Still, she had become oddly attached to her glaive and there were times when she very much wished she had it with her. This was one of those times.

"Well, don't you look cute?"

With a slight furrowing of her brows, Requiem turned and frowned at Anara. The other woman's normally blonde locks had been dyed black and she was wearing brown contact lenses to hide her cerulean eyes. Seeing the displeasure on her face, the others back away from Anara, some practically tripping over themselves as her gaze cooled even further.

"Stop glaring," Anara said. "You're not scaring anyone." That wasn't exactly true – Requiem was scaring almost everyone else – but the blonde knew that despite her fearsome reputation, Requiem wasn't about to start killing everyone just because she was annoyed. Besides, if Requiem really were going to kill all of them, she definitely wouldn't warn them first. "Besides, how often is it that you wear something like that? I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen you in something that wasn't black or dark purple."

Taking one more moment to glare, Requiem turned away and tugged at her clothing in distaste. Rather than the dark colours she normally favoured, she'd been forced to wear a pair of light grey trousers with a white shirt and a dark grey jacket. She was also wearing a white hat, the front pulled down just far enough to hide her eyes.

"I look ridiculous," Requiem muttered. And it wasn't just the fact that she looked far from threatening. Her disguise left her with almost no room at all to hide weapons on her person. In fact, she'd been forced to abandon her glaive entirely and in its place all she had were two knives hidden in her jacket and a small, compact pistol. Even with the knowledge that she could turn almost anything into a weapon, she couldn't help but feel a little exposed.

"Nonsense, you look cute," Anara replied and to Requiem's horror, the older woman walked over and began to fiddle with the hat on her head. "Besides, it's important that you look the part. I can't think of too many maintenance workers who dress like assassins and carry around a glaive."

And that, unfortunately for Requiem, was the heart of the matter. The facility that they were about to infiltrate was supposed to be conducting high-level research into energy-based weaponry. Their mission was to get in, extract the research from the facility's computer databanks, and then level the facility by sabotaging the reactor cores used to power everything.

Under normal circumstances, they'd have mounted a multi-pronged attack with several teams occupying the facility's security forces while another secured the research. However, unlike most of the facilities that they had attacked so far, this one wasn't on Saturn's surface. Instead, it was on one of Saturn's smaller moons, Pandora. Based on the information that Anara had been able to gather from the government's networks, the facility had powerful scanners designed to detect incoming vessels and multiple laser and plasma batteries designed to deal with any incoming threats, which ruled out any sort of conventional attack.

However, an opportunity had arrived not long ago when the facility's computer network had begun to experience serious problems. The facility had tried to handle things without calling for outside help, but the problems had persisted leading to a request for help from Saturn. It was a request that Anara had intercepted. From there, it wasn't all that difficult for them intercept the maintenance crew en route to Pandora and replace them. It was a risky plan, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.

Thus all twenty of them, led by Anara and Requiem, had dressed the part. They had also taken modified copies of all the security clearances and other documentation that they would need to get past the facility's security. Still, despite how well things had been planned out, Requiem found herself a little uneasy. A frontal assault was straightforward with easily identified risks, all of which related to the ability of the target to defend itself from their attack. On the other hand, a ruse like this could quite easily go wrong very quickly if they somehow gave themselves away, or if their replacement of the maintenance crew was discovered.

"Ma'am, we're about to enter the restricted zone." The words came over the intercom from the pilot of their ship. "The facility should be contacting us any moment now, so I think you should probably get up here."

"I'll be up there in a moment," Anara said just before she reached over and pinched Requiem's cheek playfully. "Now stop scowling, you're going to give the others a heart attack."

Requiem watched the older woman leave and wondered when exactly it was that Anara had stopped being afraid of her. It was strange too, because during the time that she'd been fighting against the government, most people had gotten more afraid of her, not less. In a way it was understandable. She knew that it wasn't normal for someone to kill literally scores of soldiers on their own, nor was it normal for someone to feel almost nothing while doing so. But while the others seemed content to keep her at a distance, Anara seemed determined to do the opposite. It was frustrating at times to have to deal with the teasing Anara directed her way, but there was a part of her, a part that she'd thought long dead, that was glad that someone other than her master did not seem to mind her company, despite what she was capable of. It almost made her feel like she belonged.

"All right," Anara's voice came over the intercom. "I'll be up here dealing with the facility if they contact us. The rest of you need to make sure that you've got everything in order. You need to know what your identities are for this mission and what it is that you're supposed to be working on when we get there. If any of us slip up then all of us are going to end up dead."

That got a few nervous chuckles from the others, but on the whole they took it well. Requiem glanced around and as she'd suspected, all of the others were veterans with at least a few missions of experience. That was a welcome change, because on most missions there was normally at least one rookie, usually someone who had joined the organisation for ideological reasons but lacked the practical experience to match their convictions. More often than not, she ended up having to look after them, simply because she was the only one who could look after herself and someone else at the same time. Still, everyone had to start somewhere, and a few of the rookies had proven to be quite useful after a few missions of experience.

As the others took some time to look through their security clearances and tidy up their appearances, Requiem crept into the cockpit of the ship. She took a spot just behind one of the consoles where someone speaking to Anara over the communications link wouldn't be able to see her.

There was a crackle of static before the main display at the front of the cockpit lit up. The familiar emblem of the Royal Family of Saturn appeared before it was replaced by the stern face of one of the facility's security personnel. "This is Pandora Central, this is a restricted area. Please identify yourself and confirm your security clearance."

Anara smiled just enough to put the man at ease. "We're the maintenance crew from Saturn. We've heard you've been having some problems with your computer network."

"That's right," the man said, his expression softening a little. "Now have you got those security clearance codes?"

Anara nodded. "I'm sending them over now." She chuckled with what seemed like a hint of nervousness – all of which Requiem knew was faked. "You've got about a dozen heavy laser batteries pointed our way, you mind maybe easing up on that a little?"

The man glanced away for a moment. The security clearance codes must have been good, because he nodded and grinned. "Sorry about that, but it's standard operating procedure. It's just that we've been having a lot of trouble recently with our facilities on Saturn."

Anara's face took on a look of concern. "Yes, I heard about that. It's that terrorist group, isn't it?" She grimaced. "They sound like horrible people, making trouble for the rest of us."

The man laughed. "That's true, all right." He glanced down. "You've got clearance to land at Dock 2A. There should be an escort waiting for you there. If there isn't wait at the dock until they arrive."

"Will do." Anara smiled again. "See you soon."

Once Anara had closed the communications link, Requiem stepped out of her hiding place. "No matter how many times I see you in action, it is always unsettling." Although Requiem was very good at hiding her emotions, she wasn't very good at all at faking emotions.

Anara just shrugged. "Being good with computers helps a lot of the time, but more often than not, if you want to get sensitive information, you need physical access to the databanks holding it and that means being able to convince people to give you access." She chuckled and shot Requiem an amused look. "Not all of us can be as good with weapons as you are."

Requiem nodded. "Perhaps, although I wouldn't go so far as to recommend my childhood to anyone."

Anara winced. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I know." Requiem paused. She wasn't very good at dealing with other people, at least not in the way that most people her age probably were. "I'm not angry."

"Well, that's good then." Anara smirked. "Now put a smile on that cute face of yours." Requiem's lips shifted slightly and Anara grimaced. "Actually, maybe it would be better if you just tried to keep a neutral expression." She glanced down at the console. "In any case, just get ready. We should be touching down in about ten minutes. Keep your head down and follow the others. With any luck, I'll be doing all the talking."

As the ship swung around for its final approach to the facility, Requiem glanced out one of the windows. The facility was much larger than most of the facility's they'd attacked so far. Rather than the soaring towers of black stone that were so common on the surface of Saturn, this facility was spread out across a relatively large area and made up of clusters of smaller buildings, each perhaps only seven or eight stories tall. That would make destroying the entire facility quite difficult, but if their information was correct, then the reactor cores that powered everything should be enough to wipe everything out if they were rigged to overload.

The docks were on the outskirts of the facility and as they touched down, the first hint of real nervousness seeped through the group. There was no turning back now, for better or for worse, all they could do was go with the plan and hope that everything turned out alright. Still, all of them made sure to look calm as the ship landed and the doors opened. Anara was the first one off the ship and she moved out into the dock with the easy confidence of someone who was supposed to be there. As expected, there was an escort there of about twenty guards.

The leader of the guards was the one to greet them. "Welcome to Pandora Central." His coal-coloured eyes narrowed faintly. "While you're here there are several rules that you will have to follow. First, you must do as commanded by myself or any other ranking officer of this facility. Failure to comply can lead to immediate imprisonment. Second, you are to move through only the areas that have been cleared for you." He tapped several buttons on the glove that he wore on his left hand and an image of the facility appeared over his palm with some of the areas shaded green and with the rest shaded red. "Your access is restricted to these green areas, which are directly related to the computer network. You will also be supervised at all times while you are working." He dispelled the image. "Finally, any information that you may come across here is classified. Any attempt to remove information from this facility is classified as treason and is punishable by imprisonment or death. Do you understand?"

Anara nodded. Everything the leader of the guards had just said was standard procedure. "Understood, sir. We've done a couple of jobs like this before, so I know how things are." She tilted her head at the others. "We're ready to start, if that's okay with you?"

He nodded. "Of course." He turned on his heel as the guards fell into place around them. "Follow me."

As the guards led them toward the central computer hub of the facility, Requiem kept a close eye on their surroundings. She'd already memorised the entire layout of the facility, but there was no guarantee that the floor plan she'd seen was completely up to date. There were also things that a simple floor plan wouldn't show that could prove useful. For example, just knowing which way the doors opened or how long the doors took to open could mean the difference between life and death if they were forced to fight their way out.

There were a lot of cameras and other surveillance devices around, she realised, as well as a lot of guards. In fact, there seemed to be guard posts at the entrance of every building, along with roving patrols. Whatever they were working on here, it was likely to be very important if it was so well defended. As they approached the central computer hub, she turned her attention from their surroundings back onto the guards escorting them.

Most of the guards seemed to be of the standard variety, armed with rifles and pistols and the occasional melee weapon. The real danger, she thought, was their leader. He wore finely crafted black armour underneath a purple cloak, the purple so dark that it seemed almost black. The cloak itself was held closed by a clasp in the shape of a raven. Only one group wore cloaks like that: The Saturnian Royal Guard. A faint frown crossed her face. The Saturnian Royal Guard answered only to the Royal Family and served as their eyes and ears, and, when necessary, as their shield and sword. He also moved with an easy grace, each step taken with the carefully controlled precision of a seasoned warrior. Add to that the fact that the grip of the broadsword he carried slung across his back was worn and faded and it was clear that he was skilled, very skilled.

The guards at the front of the central computer hub waved them past and they were led through a series of corridors before they reached the centre of the building. Along the way they were also subjected to a number of security checks, with guards looking through their equipment and clothing. It was at times like this that Requiem was particularly grateful for the advances in technology that made it possible for her to hide her weapons from anything but the most discerning eye.

"This is the central computer hub," the Royal Guardsman said as he turned to leave, taking a moment to ensure that all of the other guards remained in position. "Unfortunately, there are other matters that require my attention, if you require anything else, you may ask one of the guards."

The hub itself was a single vast chamber at least five stories tall. At the heart of it were the huge interlocking columns of crystal-like data recorders that served as the central databank. Around the databank were the countless relays and other pieces of equipment that served to connect the rest of the facility to the databank. A host of power conduits ran along the walls and ceiling and fed into the databank and its surroundings.

Anara took a moment to take a look at everything and then nodded. "All right, let's get to work."

Requiem did her best to blend in with the others as they spread out through the hub. According to Anara, the problems that the facility was experiencing were likely the result of damage to some of the relay stations and power conduits caused by fluctuations in the output of the energy reactors that powered the facility. The output fluctuations themselves were probably caused by whatever experiments the facility was conducting.

Following a few of the others up onto one of the many catwalks that led to the upper levels of the hub, Requiem opened the box of equipment that she'd been given and began to examine the power conduit closest to her.

Down at the bottom of the hub, Anara had her computer out. "Take a look at those relays and power conduits, I think they might be the problem." She pursed her lips. "Have a look at the ones near the top, they look a little worn. If we're not getting a stable power supply in here, then it's no wonder the computers are losing their connection to the hub on a regular basis."

Glancing down from where she was, Requiem watched Anara put on her show. Beckoning one of the guards over, Anara pulled up a display of the diagnostics that she was running and started to explain. The diagnostics were all genuine and combined with the easy going way that Anara was explaining them, it wasn't long before a few more of the guards had come over to take a closer look. Of course, it didn't hurt that Anara was acting just shy of flirtatious, with a wide smile on her face as she interspersed her explanations with shouts at the others about what they needed to do.

It wasn't long before Anara asked, ever so politely, if she could connect her computer to the central databank. It would help with diagnosing what the problem was and the guards were welcome to watch the entire time to make sure that she wasn't doing anything else. Of course, what they didn't know was that Anara had designed a program that she could run in the background to crack through the protection around the central databank. It was up to the others who were doing their best to look busy to monitor the progress of the program. Once the encryption around the central databank had been breached, the program would begin streaming the information onto the special data storage units on their ship.

Taking one last look around to make sure that no one was watching her, Requiem closed her eyes and stepped back into the shadows cast by one of the relay stations. There, she loosened her hold on her power just enough to hide her from sight and muffle any sounds that she might make. Satisfied that no one could see her, she let her face take on its normal cool, almost cold expression.

Above her, and hidden from view, was a ventilation shaft used to bring in air to cool the hub. Quickly, she hopped up and pried it open before she climbed inside. She followed the ventilation shaft out onto the roof of the hub and took a moment to orient herself. It took her a few seconds to spot the tall, thick spires that served as the cooling vents for the energy reactors, but when she did, she was quick to take off across the roofs toward them. To make sure that they were able to get out safely, Anara and the others really would be completing the repairs, but that wouldn't matter so long as Requiem managed to rig the energy reactors to overload and destroy the facility.

As she leapt from roof to roof, using her Rift-born strength to easily bridge the large gaps between some of the buildings, Requiem kept a close watch on the guards below her. Over the years, she'd learned that people rarely, if ever, looked up, but in case one of them did, she needed to be ready. At the same time, she made sure to stay away from as many cameras as she could. It wasn't that her powers couldn't hide her from the cameras. On the contrary, her powers tended to either break cameras or reduce the footage to mere static, both of which could draw unwelcome attention to her if they affected too many cameras at once. One camera breaking down was possible, but if ten or twenty went down at once, there would be trouble.

A few minutes later, Requiem touched down on the roof of the building where the energy reactors were. Calling upon her powers once again, she pulled out one of her knives from her jacket and wreathed its blade in destructive violet energy. The air sang eerily for a split-second as she used her knife to cut a hole in the roof. Below her was another ventilation shaft and she dropped down and followed it till she dropped down in the middle of a deserted corridor several floors above the control room for the energy reactors. She could have tried for a different ventilation shaft, but the closer to the control room she got, the tougher the security would be and a ventilation shaft was one of the worst possible places to have to fight.

The corridor was made of drab grey stone with lights studded into the walls and ceiling. Quickly, she palmed both of her knives and made sure that her pistol was within easy reach. If she were discovered now, there would be no point trying to explain. She would have to fight and win quickly enough to prevent someone sounding an alarm. With a soft sigh, she gathered herself and slunk quickly down the corridor.

She came across the first of the guards just in front of the elevators and as she rounded the corner, she saw his eyes widen in shock. His hand flashed down to his communicator to call for help, but her knife was already in flight and a split-second before he could each his communicator, the weapon imbedded itself in his left eye. He dropped to the ground with a thud and as she went over to pull her knife free, she heard a startled cry behind her. It was another guard, most likely, he'd gone to get something like a drink and come back to find her there. Without looking, she threw her knife again. A second later, he too fell to the ground.

The elevator was password protected, but Requiem had come prepared. She reached into her jacket for the small device that Anara had given her and clipped it over the password entry unit. It took a few moments, but eventually, the unit gave a small beep and the doors opened. Good, as usual, Anara had come through for her. Glancing back down at one of the dead guards, she paused for a moment and then slung his rifle over her shoulder. After another moment's thought, she bent down and picked him up, as well. He was bigger than her, but with her greater than normal strength, he wasn't too difficult to lift.

As the elevator descended, she positioned the dead man in front of her. The doors opened with a quiet beep and she heard the gasps of shock and horror from the guards in front of the elevator as she threw the dead guard into their midst. They recoiled immediately, a completely natural reaction, but one that gave her the element of surprise as she burst out of the elevator, knives at the ready.

She reached the first guard before he could even bring his gun up. Her knife flashed across his throat, and he dropped to his knees, gurgling horribly as he clutched at the wound. A second lashed out at her with the butt of his rifle, but she simply breezed under the blow and struck as she rose, her knives blurring as she struck several times in quick succession and then kicked him into the two others behind him. A bullet shot past her, and she spun, hand extending as she flung her knife into the throat of another guard.

The two remaining guards struggled to shove their fallen comrade off, but only partially succeeded before she reached them. She stabbed one in the chest twice and then twisted to catch the arm of the second, yanking him up and forward so that she could cut his throat. Blood pooled on the floor and she took a second to go back and retrieve her other knife before she continued down the corridor.

On her back, the rifle she'd stolen remained unfired. While she could use a gun as well as anything else, rifles had a tendency to be noisy and more noise meant more trouble. If the facility's security forces realised what she was up to, Anara and the others would most likely be captured or killed. If her information was correct, then the control room was at the end of the next corridor. Unfortunately, there would probably be another score or so of guards for her to deal with.

Her lips quirked up slightly. Despite the emptiness that she so often struggled to control, there was a part of her that revelled in the fury of battle, in the moment-to-moment struggle between life and death. Footsteps came from nearby. The guards were close. Closing her eyes, she let her power expand, let the hollowness and pain that had been a part of her for so long sweep through her and out of her and into her surroundings. Silence fell over everything and she exploded into motion. With her powers casting an unearthly quiet over everything, it wouldn't matter if the guards or her opened fire. Besides, there were too many of them for her to fight without being noticed.

The guards opened fire immediately, and she threw herself to the side, drawing the rifle off her back and letting loose a hail of bullets. The first spray caught one guard in the chest and he jerked backward, slamming into the wall and leaving a florid trail of red in his wake as his eyes glazed over and he slid to the floor. More bullets slammed into the walls and floor around her as she continued her rush forward, firing back as she advanced. Another guard went down, two bullets hitting him in the chest and spinning his around, before a third struck him in the head and put him down. Two of the guards at the back of the group went for their communicators and she targeted them next, firing on them until the rifle clicked empty, even though she was fairly confident that her powers would make communication with the outside impossible.

More guards arrived, no doubt drawn by the unnatural quiet, and she tossed her rifle aside and drew her knives again. She was in their midst almost before they even registered what was happening and confusion reigned as she laid into them. Her knife caught one in the arm and she twisted, lashing out with her second knife to cut his throat. She felt the air behind her shift and leapt up just in time to avoid a stream of bullets. The wayward shots hit another guard and as she landed, she sheathed one knife and tore the gun from the guard's hands, turning it on those around her. The rifle kicked hard against her shoulder as she fired, twisting away from the guards' counter fire and emptying the rifle in several well-aimed bursts.

The guards fell to the ground and she tossed the rifle aside. The doors to the control room were right ahead and it was quite likely that they'd chosen to fortify their position rather than fight in the corridor. Placing Anara's device on the door, she waited for the doors to open and then stepped to one side.

A hail of bullets greeted her and she waited for them to stop before she took a quick look through the door. The guards had made a rough barricade out of tables and chairs and were hunkered down behind it. It was a good strategy, but one that would not succeed given what she was capable of. From where they were, they had no hope of interrupting her. With a low growl, she began to gather her energy. Violet light pooled in her palms and she felt the air around her begin to crackle with raw, uncontrolled force. The silence around her deepened, growing until it was more than just an absence of sound, but an absence of feeling or thought. The emptiness inside her howled, begging for release and for a split-second she was back in the smouldering ruins of her home with the smell of burning flesh in the air. Blinking the memory away, she stepped back in front of the door and flung her hands forward.

The energy in her hands shot forward, a coruscating sphere of purple radiance. It howled through the air with the soundless roar of dream-born thunder and there was a flash that was more than visual as it struck the barricade. The air rippled and tore as violet light spilled outward from the centre of the attack. Space warped and a soul-piercing shriek filled the air before the light began to dim and the attack subsided.

When Requiem looked back, the guards were gone along with their barricade and a fifteen feet wide section of the floor. However, the rest of the control room seemed untouched and she breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped inside. The console that controlled the energy reactors was set into one of the walls and she made her way over to it. While she wasn't particularly good with computers, Anara had made sure to teach her what to do.

However, as she reached down to begin the adjustment, a loud voice stopped her.

"That's about far enough."

She froze and then turned. Above her on the catwalks that ran alongside three of the four walls of the control room were guards and directly opposite from her was the Royal Guardsman from before. Her eyes narrowed. Every single one of them had their weapons pointed at her and she had no doubt at all that they would fire if she much as twitched.

"I didn't expect you to cut your way through my guards quite so easily," the Royal Guardsman said. His eyes flicked down to the missing section of the floor. "Still, I suppose a few losses are inevitable when the prize to be had is so great."

Requiem said nothing. Instead, she took a second to examine the area around her more closely. The Royal Guardsman and the others had the high ground and there wasn't anything nearby that she could use for cover. Worse, many of the guards were carrying what looked like neural disruption grenades, which would be enough to stagger even her. They were armed, she realised, to capture, not to kill.

"What are you talking about?" Requiem asked. She needed to stall for time if she wanted to get out of this. As her pulse began to quicken, she forced herself to stay calm. Her master had taught her better and so long as she remained calm, she still had a chance. "What prize?"

The Royal Guardsman laughed. "Isn't it obvious? You and that friend of yours are the prizes." He smiled coldly. "You've be a thorn in Her Highness' side for quite some time now, and while I'd much rather kill you, the High Princess is convinced that you might be useful for our research." He smirked. "Or rather, that power of yours might be useful. As for your friend, she knows a great deal about your organisation, enough I think, that we should be able to crush all of you."

"What have you done with my friend?" Requiem growled. The blood in her veins had turned to ice. She knew better than the most the different ways that information could be extracted from someone who was unwilling to give it. There was torture, of course, of the conventional kind, but there were other procedures, procedures that were far worse. For instance, there was neural stripping, which was banned in principle, but disturbingly common in practice. If they used that, then Anara would either die outright or be left a broken shell of her old self.

"We haven't done anything yet," the Royal Guardsman said. "Besides, the High Princess wishes to question her personally."

Requiem tensed. The High Princess' cruelty was a very carefully kept secret.

"Right now, your friend has been taken into custody, as for the others though… we didn't have any use for them, so we disposed of them." He smiled. "Quickly, I should add."

"Disposed of them? The air around Requiem quivered and she heard a dull ringing inside her ears. Those people hadn't been her friends, but they'd been comrades, people she'd fought with on a number of occasions.

"Yes," he replied. "They wouldn't have been very useful. Your friend, on the other hand, is a different story, but don't worry. You'll be seeing her soon enough." He gestured with one hand. "Take her into custody."

More guards came in through the door she'd taken into the control room. They were holding restraints and Requiem gathered her power.

"You can fight if you like," the Royal Guardsman said. "But you won't win."

He would have said more but a shaft of golden light suddenly lanced right through his chest and into the wall behind him. He looked down at the glowing beam of light in startled horror before he stumbled forward and tumbled over the railing of the catwalk. He fell to the ground not far from Requiem, his eyes already glazed in death. For a moment, there was absolute silence as everyone stared at the Royal Guardsman's prone body. What had just happened? Requiem was the first to move. As much as the sudden twist in events disturbed her, she was not going to waste this opportunity.

Quick as a flash, she darted forward at the guards that were supposed to apprehend her. Rather than try and kill all of them, she simply drove one knife into the chest of the guard closest to her and reached for the neural disruption grenades at his waist. As he gurgled and toppled to the floor, she palmed one of the grenades and activated all of the others.

Ignoring the spray of bullets from the other guards, one of which grazed her arm and another of which grazed her leg, she leapt up onto the nearest catwalk and threw the neural disruption grenade she'd taken at the guards closest to her. Beneath her, she heard a dull whoosh followed by a high-pitched wail as the four neural disruption grenades she'd activated detonated together.

A grim smile crossed her face as the guards below her began to scream and writhe in helpless agony. Neural disruption grenades were restricted on most planets and with good reason. They operated by massively overstimulating the nerves in the human body. The end result was a feeling of immense pain, which while not normally lethal, was more than enough to render those caught in the blast helpless. However, that was the effect of just one grenade. She'd used four on them.

The grenade she'd thrown landed in the middle of the guards nearest to her and went off. Immediately, most of them went down, crying out in pain. She breezed through them, cutting and thrusting quickly to either side. Bullets slammed into the walls and catwalk around her and she grabbed a screaming guard and used him for cover. His body jerked wildly under the gunfire and she grabbed a neural disruption grenade from his waist and threw it as best she could. But the other guards were finally beginning to get their act together and as she continued to try and make her way toward them, she saw four neural disruption grenades flying through the air toward her.

As the grenades arced through the air toward her, Requiem holstered her knives and reached for her pistol. Even for her the shots would be tough to make, but she simply couldn't afford to miss. Taking aim, she fired rapidly, the gun kicking back with each shot. Some of her shots went wide, but that hardly mattered, because four of them had hit. The grenades exploded in mid-air, and rather than stay on the catwalk where she would be exposed, she leapt up onto one of the support struts that stretched from wall to wall.

She sprinted across the support strut toward the other guards, sparing a moment to shoot out as many of the lights as she could before her pistol clicked empty. With her keener vision, the lack of light would trouble her far less than them. As she leapt off the support strut toward the guards, she felt a bullet catch her in the shoulder. Pain rippled through her, but she shoved it aside. As far as she could tell, the bullet had managed to miss bone and had simply shot through. It would hurt, but her arm wasn't completely useless.

She kicked one man off the catwalk and then stabbed another twice in the chest before she forced her injured shoulder to work as she brought her other knife around into the stomach of a third and then yanked upward. He gave a screech and dropped to his knees and she plucked his rifle from him, using her good arm to fire it as best she could as she jumped back up onto the support strut.

The erratic flash of the rifle as it fired lit up a grisly scene. Most of the guards were dead, and some of those still alive were trying to flee. Blood streaked the walls and floor and the low groans of those hit by the neural disruption grenades filled the air. Stopping for a second, she reached up for her shoulder. She didn't have much time so healing her shoulder completely was out of the question. However, she could probably heal it enough for it to last the battle. Purple light covered the wound and she managed to get just enough done before she was on the move again, dodging gunfire as she dropped back onto the floor of the control room.

The fall was a long one, and in the near darkness, she landed slightly awkwardly. Lightning shot up her ankle, but she pushed the pain aside. The joint wasn't broken. More likely, she'd just sprained it. Her eyes scanned the near-darkness, even though a lot of the guards were down, there were still quite a few of them and she was beginning to tire. She had to find a way to get rid of them all at once.

Her eyes shifted to the catwalk. The high ground was what gave the guards the advantage, but the catwalk wasn't actually that well supported. In fact, apart from being bolted to the wall, it was only supported by several columns. If she could sever those, the catwalk would probably break off. Gathering as much power as she could, and doing her best to stay one step ahead of the guards' gunfire, she lashed out wildly with great streams of violet effulgence.

The attacks smashed into the supporting columns and disintegrated them almost immediately. The whine of straining metal filled the air before the catwalks began to break away from the walls and fall to the ground. The guards went down with the catwalks, the room filling with dust and sound as Requiem forced her tired body into motion.

She grabbed the rifles from the guards closest to her and fired into the dust. The controls would most likely suffer some damage, but at this point, it was more important that she got out of there and got Anara. Even with her keen vision, the dust made it hard to see in the faint light, but their coughing was enough to give their positions away.

As she blazed away, emergency lights and alarms began to wail – she must have hit something vital – but she doubted it mattered. The Royal Guardsman had told her that Anara had already been captured, which meant that the base was probably under lockdown anyway. In her arms, the rifle jerked to a stop and she tossed it away. Her knives were in her palms a moment later and she strode into the cloud of dust.

By the time she'd finished, she was utterly exhausted. It didn't help that she hadn't escaped completely unscathed either. A few of the guards had managed to get off lucky shots and while she hadn't been hit cleanly, there were a few bloody gashes and scrapes that she would have to deal with. Swaying a little, she grit her teeth. Just the physical effort required to kill so many people left her drained, and she was shocked by how little it bothered her that her arms were drenched in blood up to the elbows.

Staggering, she made her way over to the control panel and frowned. The fight had damaged it quite badly, and the damage had triggered an emergency failsafe routine that made it all but impossible to rig the reactors to overload.

"Don't worry about that."

Requiem was beginning to become quite tired of people sneaking up on her, although at least on this occasion she could blame it on her exhaustion. She turned and watched as someone leapt down from the roof of the room and landed not ten feet from her. In the near darkness, it was hard to make out the person in front of her, but then they gestured and sparkling golden light swirled into existence around them before taking on the shape of a sword. The person the glowing sword revealed was quite possibly the most beautiful person that Requiem had ever seen.

The woman had long golden hair and large, shimmering, sapphire eyes. Her full lips were pulled into an almost amused smile and the tiara that framed her forehead held an orange-amber crystal. Beneath the golden cloak she wore that was trimmed with orange, the woman's figure was undeniably feminine and everything about her, from the way she stood, to the sound of her voice oozed a sort of easy sensuality.

"Sailor Venus," Requiem murmured as she took a step back. It had been more than a year since she'd encountered Sailor Mercury and during that time she'd pushed herself even harder, knowing that she'd probably run into another one of the senshi sooner or later. Currently, however, she wasn't in any conditions to fight a senshi, especially one as dangerous as Sailor Venus. Mercury might be a brilliant scientist and tactician, but Venus was arguably the most skilled swordswoman in the Solar System, to say nothing of the telepathic powers that she was supposed to have.

"Relax," Venus said, smiling softly, her voice soft and smoky with a hint of teasing. "I'm not here to fight." She put her hands on her hips and grinned. "Besides, shouldn't you be thanking me?"

"Thanking you?" Requiem's eyes widened. Of course, the attack that had killed the Royal Guardsman and given her the opening she needed. It had been a beam of light, the exact same kind of attack that Venus was famous for. Immediately, she tensed, ready for a fight. "Why did you help me?"

Rather than look offended, Venus, simply continued to look amused. She raised one fine eyebrow and then chuckled throatily. "Are you threatening me?" Requiem couldn't help but shiver, whether in fear or something else, she wasn't sure. "Perhaps if you were healthy it might be an interesting fight, but right now, you're exhausted." Her lips curved into a smile. "Still, I can see why Mercury was so impressed. You're very…" she bit one full lip in thought and then smirked. "Yes… forceful in the way that you fight. Perhaps not very elegant, but you're ruthless, and I can't really argue with your effectiveness."

"Answer the question," Requiem said. "Why are you helping me?"

Venus sighed dramatically and clutched at her chest. "Why are you being so hostile toward me? I'm only trying to do the right thing." She held her hurt expression for a moment longer and then winked. "Well, if you must know, you're not the only ones who've been keeping an eye on the Royal Family of Saturn. You see, Requiem, Saturn has been causing trouble for the Empire lately. After all, they never liked us very much, and you don't really think that all those weapons they've been building lately are just for show, do you?" Venus laughed, the sound like tinkling silver bells. "That High Princess of yours has some high aspirations for Saturn, aspirations that the Empress does not particularly like."

"Why not just kill her?" Requiem asked.

"Normally, it wouldn't be all that hard for us to do that." Venus' eyes shimmered with mirth. "However, Saturn has always been difficult to deal with. You Saturnians have always been very good at fighting so any attempt to just dispose of the High Princess using brute force would most likely fail. Those closest to her are also very loyal to her and Saturn, so we can't really rely on assassination either." She pouted. "And with the problems we've been having on Jupiter and Uranus, we really haven't got all that many resources to spare. Honestly, some people just don't know how to stay conquered, even if it is for the best." She smiled sunnily at Requiem. "And that's where you and your little group come in."

Requiem's blood ran cold. The smile on Venus' face was entirely too friendly. It was like the two of them were old friends. "So you're just using us…"

"You could look at it that way," Venus said. "But you and your group have been having quite a bit of success making life hard for the Royal Family. Now, we don't actually think you'll win, but you will slow things down enough so that by the time the High Princess is ready to make her move, we'll be ready too." Venus grinned. "That's why I'm helping you. If you and that friend of yours die here, then that's only going to make things harder for the Empire and that in turn will make the Empress unhappy, and I just can't have that." She smiled secretively. "After all, we are very, very close."

Requiem frowned. "I don't like the thought of helping the Empire."

Venus pursed her lips. "You know, Requiem, the Empress wasn't quite sure what to do with you. After Mercury's report came back, she actually considered having you killed. There aren't many who can fight a senshi and live and the thought of someone like you just wandering around wasn't exactly reassuring." She tapped her lip with one slender finger. "Then she considered behavioural modification, but I argued against that. You see, I think you'll come join us one day. The fact is that even your own comrades are scared of you and the power that you have." She stepped forward and before Requiem could move, Venus reached forward and lifted Requiem's hands up. They were covered in blood, but Venus seemed completely unfazed and she ran her fingers along the back of Requiem's palms and then up along her fingers. "Do you think your comrades would even want to be near you if they saw you like this, let alone touch you? Hmmmm… I'd wager that they'd run screaming the other way." Her voice had dropped to a whisper and she leaned in close. "But the Empress would understand and so would the senshi. Power makes you different and we're the only ones who won't be afraid."

Requiem pulled her hands back. "You don't understand a thing! I'm not going to join you."

Venus shifted backward, easily dodging the tired punch that Requiem sent her way. She caught the limb and pulled Requiem up close, the younger woman's back flush against her front. Requiem struggled to break free, but couldn't. Venus was stronger than Mercury, much stronger. At the same time though, there was a voice in her head, telling her to stop struggling. She almost listened, swaying slightly. Venus smelled like roses and she felt so very nice…

"Get out of my head!" Requiem spat as she realised what was happening.

Venus' eyes widened and then she smiled approvingly. "Good, you were able to realise what I was doing. You really are strong." She tightened her hold and her voice was a low whisper in Requiem's ears. "But remember this, Requiem, you aren't the same as the others and you never will be. No matter how much that little group of yours does, it will never be enough. Maybe you'll defeat the High Princess, maybe you won't, but even if you do, there will be no place for you there. You'll always be on the run because the Royal Family will never forgive and it will never forget." She pressed her lips to Requiem's cheek. "You'll get tired of running one day, tired of fighting for a cause that can't possibly win and when you do, you'll remember this offer and you'll come to us of your own free will." Venus ran one hand along Requiem's jaw. "And you don't have to worry about your friends. The Empress will see to that. In fact, I've no doubt at all that she'll take in all of you. After all, good help is so hard to find and all your friends are useful in their own right." She nuzzled at Requiem's cheek. "You'll be safe, you'll be powerful, and everything will be just the way it should be."

Requiem tried to pull free. "Let go of me!"

"In a moment." Venus reached around and slipped something into Requiem's tattered jacket. "Before you go, you should take that. It has some information about the Royal Family's research facilities that your group might find useful." She grinned. "And thank your friend, Anara for me, while she was busy hacking the central databank, I made sure to pull off a copy of the data."

Requiem growled and finally managed to break free. She stumbled back and immediately went for her knives.

"In case you're curious about what they were working on here – I know I was – I believe Mercury called it an 'ultra-high density photon multiplier array' or something like that. I'm not entirely sure how it all works, but it sounds a great deal like a death ray." Venus leapt up and back toward the ruined catwalk. She landed easily on the railing and there was a flash of golden light as she cut a hole in the wall. "Oh and don't worry about having to set off the energy reactors. I've already planted some explosive charges. They're set to go off in about thirty minutes." She turned.

"Wait!" Requiem shouted, hating the fact that she was about to ask for a favour. "Where is Anara?"

Venus smiled. "I was wondering if you'd ask. She's in the south-eastern holding cells. Your ship is still at the dock, so once you get her, you should take it and get out of here." She paused for a moment and then a playful look appeared on her face. "And next time we meet, try to wear something different. Grey really doesn't suit you. Purple I think, or black, would be best." And then she was gone.

As Requiem willed her tired body into motion, she couldn't help but think about everything Venus had said. Had they really done nothing more than play into the Empire's plans? The thought brought a snarl to her lips. She refused to let anyone manipulate her. She would have her revenge and she would have it on her own terms.

X X X

Later, much later, Requiem staggered back into the main area of the ship from the cockpit. She'd set a course for a deserted part of Saturn where they could meet up with Van and her master. For now, however, as much as she wanted to just collapse, she couldn't. By the time she'd gotten to Anara, the security forces had already hit her with a neural disruption grenade combined with a drug to keep her conscious. The fact that her friend was still coherent despite the agonising pain she'd been subjected to was a testament to her toughness.

"It hurts!" Anara screamed, back arched as her face tightened with pain, her voice hoarse from screaming. "It hurts so much!"

Requiem resisted the urge to hold the other woman. It was something she could remember her own mother doing when she'd been hurt, although the memory was so dim now that she wasn't even sure how much of it was real and how much it she'd simply imagined. Certainly her master had never comforted her like that, not that she held it against him. But holding Anara now, when she was still in the grips of the neural disruption grenade, would only hurt her.

"Heal me!" Anara sobbed. "Requiem, please!"

Requiem bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. She'd never paid as much attention to her healing powers as she should, content to be able to fix up the wounds she suffered on the battlefield. If only she'd worked a little harder and learned how to take away someone's pain instead of just learning how to kill people… she clenched her fists.

"I can't do that," Requiem whispered softly as she knelt down and opened the ship's medical kit. There was a sedative there that should be able to knock Anara out until the grenade's effects wore off. "This will hurt, but only for a moment."

Without further warning, she plunged the sedative filled needle into Anara's arm. The woman let loose a wild shriek and thrashed so violently that even with her strength, it took Requiem everything she had to hold her down. Finally, her body went slack and Anara fell silent.

Slumping onto the floor, Requiem consoled herself with the fact that she'd killed everyone responsible for Anara's pain and if she had missed anybody, Venus' explosives had reduced the entire facility to one gigantic crater. Still, she couldn't help but wonder. How had the Royal Family known they were coming? Looking at her friend, Requiem felt the emptiness and silence in her grow just a little more. She'd lost everything once already. She would die before she let anyone take from her what little she still had.

X X X

Venus opened the communications link and waited a few seconds. The delay was troublesome to someone accustomed to the very finest things, but it was a necessary sacrifice. It wouldn't do, after all, for her communications link to be compromised and encryption, especially to the standard that Mercury demanded, took time.

Finally, the display in front of her came to life. The Empress appeared before her, a small smile on her face.

"I trust things went well, Venus."

Venus smiled and inclined her head. Looking up, she winked. "Of course, Your Majesty. Everything went as planned."

The Empress laughed. "I must confess, Venus, that even after all these years you continue to surprise me." She laughed softly. "It would seem that you are even better at manipulating people than Pluto."

Venus made a show of bowing humbly. "I live to serve."

"Still, I do wonder what would happen if Requiem were ever to find out that you were the one who leaked the information about them to the facility's security forces." The Empress smirked. "I imagine she'd be quite upset."

Venus shrugged elegantly. "Perhaps, but she won't find out. In any case, you said you wanted her, didn't you? This way, when that group of hers is finally crushed, she'll come running right to us, we may even get a few more pawns into the bargain."

"Pawns?" The Empress' eyes glittered dangerously. "The others may be pawns, but Requiem is more than that. The time will may come that we have to sacrifice those pawns for a greater purpose." She leaned forward. "You felt it, didn't you, my Venus, the power that lies inside her?"

A bright smile lit up Venus' face. "Yes, but she's not ready yet. But when it does happen, I want to see it." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Can you imagine it, the birth of the first true Sailor Saturn?"

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

Well, what do you know? There's no months long delay for this chapter. It was nice to get this out in a reasonable time frame, especially since I did say that I would. This chapter was great fun to write. It had a lot of fight scenes (always fun) as well as some good old-fashioned intrigue.

I wanted to work some of the other senshi into this and Venus seemed like the perfect fit for this chapter. The Empire may wield considerable military force, but not all battles are won with swords, and Venus is perhaps the best example of that. As you can see, Requiem now not only has to worry about the Royal Family, she has the Empire and its senshi to worry about too. Is it any wonder that she's so suspicious of Serenity in the later timeline with Pluto?

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Michiru pulled away from the canvas with a startled frown. She'd only just realised, but rather than the bright, cheerful shades that she normally favoured, the painting in front of her was a morass of dark purples, greens, and reds, all of them set in a florid expanse of jet black that sent a shiver through her. Yet even more striking than the colours were the shapes. As an artist, she knew well enough that there were certain shapes, certain lines and curves that combined just right to stir up unease and inspire fear. Those shapes, those lines and curves, were all over the canvas in front of her, the painting ruled by an eerie geometry that made it hard just to look at.

Was it strange then that looking at the painting more closely, she couldn't help but be reminded just a little – or perhaps a great deal – of Saturn and Pluto.

Swallowing thickly and shivering again despite the warmth of the room, Michiru turned away from the painting. If anything, she felt even more uncomfortable with her back to the canvas. It was like she could feel eyes boring into her back, eyes that held all the weight of countless centuries in their gaze. As quickly as she could, she reached for a cloth and threw it over the still drying canvas and then half-ran, half-stumbled out of the room. Pressing her back against the door, she locked it behind her and it was only then that some of her unease began to slip away.

Still breathing a little more quickly than she'd like, she forced herself to calm down and take several deep breaths as she listened keenly to the comforting sounds of the house. There was the dishwasher going in the kitchen and the dryer in the laundry roomer. Listening to those sounds she felt a little calmer. Listening again, she picked out the sounds of someone in the garage and she could easily picture Haruka there hunkered underneath her car tinkering with its insides. A soft smile crossed her lips. The sunlight coming through the window closest to her was a faded gold, the colour telling her that it was already late afternoon. Haruka could probably use an afternoon snack and she could definitely use someone to talk to.

Humming quietly to herself – it helped to keep the silence at bay, and the silence had only grown since Setsuna took Hotaru to the Gates – Michiru got a few snacks together along with a couple of drinks and carried all of it into the garage on a tray. Sure enough, Haruka was there, her feet poking out from underneath her car. Michiru had hardly taken a step inside though, when the blonde let loose a fairly impressive string of curses as she fumbled for one of the wrenches that had fallen just out of her reach.

"Damn it!" Haruka growled, one hand pawing around for that wrench. "Where did that stupid wrench go?"

Michiru shook her head slowly and smiled. The intelligent thing to do would have been for Haruka to get out from underneath the car so she could actually see the wrench, but the blonde had always been a little too stubborn for that. Grinning to herself and careful to make as little noise as possible, Michiru set the tray of snacks and drinks down on one of the tables and then reached over for the wrench and put it into Haruka's hand.

"Hey, there it is! That was easy – ouch!" Haruka cursed as she jerked up in surprise, hitting her head on the bottom of the car. "Damn it, Michiru, don't scare me like that."

Michiru chuckled softly. "I'm sorry, Haruka, but you just sounded so frustrated looking for that wrench."

Haruka made a disgusted sound and pushed herself out from underneath the car. Her face and upper body were covered with dark smudges and there was a particularly large smudge where her forehead had come into contact with the bottom of the car. "Yeah, yeah. How many times have I told you not to surprise me when I'm under there?" She rubbed at her forehead. "Damn, that really stings."

"Would you like me to kiss it better?" Michiru offered before she realised just how grimy Haruka's forehead was. "Actually, how about I just wipe it clean?" As she reached for a cloth to wipe the grime away, she shot Haruka a teasing look. "Besides, what have I told you about swearing, Haruka? That last string of expletives was particularly impressive, even for you."

Haruka had the decency to look embarrassed as she took the cloth from Michiru and finished wiping her face clean. Looking around she caught sight of the snacks and drinks and she grinned widely. "Have I told you lately how much I love you, Michiru?"

Michiru followed Haruka's gaze and giggled. "Every day, Haruka, but you can say it more often if you like. I don't mind."

The two of them pulled up a pair of chairs and sat at the table. As Haruka reached for a sandwich, Michiru watched her carefully. She knew her lover very well and although Haruka didn't look particularly agitated on the outside, there was a tightness in her shoulders that wasn't normally there. Besides, Haruka had a habit of working on her car whenever something bothered her. Still, she knew better than to just come out and ask Haruka what was bothering her. Dealing with the other woman had always required a certain kind of finesse.

"Is there something wrong with the car?" Michiru asked softly.

Haruka scowled and bit her lip. "The stupid thing's been playing up. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but every time I start it, it just doesn't sound right." The blonde put her sandwich down and stomped over to the car and for a second, Michiru thought that Haruka might actually kick it. "I looked at everything and I still can't work out what's going on."

Michiru waved Haruka back over. "Oh? I thought the car sounded just fine when I took it out yesterday."

Haruka frowned. "Yeah, well, it's not fine." She clenched one hand. "And no matter how hard I try, I can't get it to work the way it's supposed to."

Michiru sighed. "Haruka, are you sure it's the car you're angry with?"

Haruka's eyes widened for a moment before she folded her arms over her chest. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Haruka, I know you." Michiru stood and tugged Haruka's arms away from her body, replacing them with her own as she pulled the other woman close. "You always come down here when you're mad."

"How is it that you always see right through me?" Haruka murmured with a mixture of exasperation and appreciation.

"Well," Michiru said as she pulled away and led Haruka back to the table. "I am the sensitive one."

Haruka slumped back into her chair and reached across the table for one of Michiru's hands. "It's just… this whole thing with Saturn makes me so angry, and the worst part is that I don't even know whom I should be angry at. You know, when Setsuna first started explaining things, I really wanted to punch her in the face, but the more I think about it, the more I start wondering if maybe I wouldn't have done exactly what she did." She bit her lip. "And damn it, I want to punch Saturn in the face too, but she's Hotaru too isn't she, well, sort of, and somehow I don't think she'd take it too well."

"No, I wouldn't recommend punching Saturn in the face," Michiru murmured softly. "I doubt she'd appreciate the sentiment." She frowned. "But I do understand what you mean. I… I've been painting since Setsuna took Hotaru to the Gates and… well… you know how I try to paint what I feel." She swallowed thickly. "I don't think I want to even look at what I painted again."

"That bad, huh?" Haruka took a sip of juice and plonked her glass back onto the table. "It just seems so unfair. How much longer do we have to carry the weight of the past, Michiru? What are we even fighting for? Damn it, it seems like very time we beat an enemy, another one just pops up that's twice as bad." She lowered her gaze to the table and when she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. "What's the damn point?"

Michiru closed her eyes. So there it was, right out in the open. "I… I'm not sure what to say. But you're right. It isn't fair, it isn't fair at all and maybe that's why Setsuna didn't say anything." She opened her eyes and reached across the table to tilt Haruka's chin up. "Think about how old Setsuna is, Haruka. Think about all the things she's seen. She's seen the Lunar Empire fall and I don't even want to think about how many senshi she's seen die. All those years and she must have seen the dangers come, unable to do anything but plan and hope that things would turn out okay." She shivered. "I don't know how she got through it, but maybe she was hoping that she could finally change things, that maybe, just once, she could get everything right. Maybe for her, that was the point of it all." She chuckled mirthlessly. "Still, if were her, I'd have gone insane a long time ago."

Haruka winced. "Way to make me feel guilty, Michiru."

The aqua haired woman stroked Haruka's cheek. "You know that's not how I meant it."

Haruka nodded. "I can see your point though. Maybe all we really can do is to keep on fighting and hoping that maybe we've fought enough." She shook her head slowly. "But no wonder, Sestsuna didn't want to get too close to any of us at first. I know if I'd lost you, I'd…" she trailed off, eyes distant. "And if something happened to the others, well, I'm not sure how well I'd deal with that. To have that happen again and again…"

They ate in silence for a few more minutes before Michiru spoke again. "You know, I've been thinking about Saturn too. We've all been saying that Hotaru isn't anything like her, but maybe we're wrong."

"Wrong? How exactly do you think we're wrong?" Haruka growled. "Last time I checked, Hotaru wasn't planning on committing genocide."

Michiru winced. Haruka bluntness could be endearing, but there were times when it was, well, a little too blunt. "That's not what I mean. I mean, I know she and Hotaru aren't exactly the same, but how would Hotaru have turned out if she didn't have anybody like us?" Michiru asked. "What if she lost everything she loved and she had no one but herself, what sort of person would Hotaru be?"

Haruka's mouth firmed into a thin line. "I know she wouldn't end up like Saturn."

"Do you really?" Michiru asked. "I'm not so sure."

"Hold on a second," Haruka said as she glared across the table. "Don't tell me you think that Hotaru is some kind of psychopath!"

Michiru frowned. "Of course not. But I think that, given the right circumstances, any one of us senshi would be capable of doing unpleasant things." She narrowed her eyes. "If someone killed me, Haruka, what would you do?"

"I'd find them and…" Haruka spat before she trailed off and sighed. "Fine. I get it. Just… did you have to put it like that?"

"I don't know what happened to Saturn, Haruka, maybe only Pluto does, but if she really were just some psychopath, I don't think she'd have stopped when she had the chance to kill you, and I certainly don't think she'd have listened to Pluto." Michiru studied the surface of the table. The varnish had begun to wear away on one side. "I'd like to believe that Saturn had a reason for what she did. I don't know what kind of reason could justify killing an entire planet, but if she's a part of Hotaru, then I have to believe that there's good in her, that she's more than just a killer."

"So what now?" Haruka asked softly.

Michiru poured herself another cup of juice. "We wait. We wait and we hope that Setsuna is right about what she's doing." Her lips curled into a smile. "If it turns out that Setsuna's plan is wrong, then I suppose you could punch her the face."

Haruka chuckled. "And if it works?"

"Well, I suppose you could just yell at her," Michiru said.

X X X

Pluto watched as Saturn knelt in front of the Gates, her eyes wide and unseeing. She reached out with her power and then gasped. Even though Saturn wasn't moving, her power was there and growing. It wasn't enough to be dangerous, at least not yet, but it was more than enough to set the hairs on the back of her neck on end. Whatever Saturn was remembering, it couldn't be pleasant.

Turning away to regain her composure, Pluto watched the mists shifting around them. Unlike the others who stepped into this realm, the mists hid very little from her. In fact, what they hid was more often than not a reaction to her will, a courtesy of sorts from the Gates that were bound to her mind and desires as much as she was bound to them.

In the depths of the mists she saw a tall spire of weathered rock and a rueful smile cross her face. How fitting that she would think of that place at a time likes this. After all, it was at that very place that she'd first begun to truly understand Saturn, to realise what it was that drove the other woman.

X X X

"Why have we not departed from Mars?" Serenity asked. "Is there a problem with the engines?"

Mars shook her head. "The engines are fine, Your Majesty. However, some of our scanners have detected demonic activity on the surface of Mars." The senshi's lips pulled back into a snarl and Serenity felt a familiar quiver run through. What wonderful ferocity. "They appear to have set up some kind of fortification near the capital." She glanced at Serenity. "I would like to request permission to divert forces to engage it."

Serenity frowned faintly. The thought of those abominations settling anywhere in her empire was distasteful in the extreme. However, the outer planets were still under demonic control. "Can we bombard their fortifications from orbit, Mars? I would like to see the outer planets cleared as quickly as possible."

"No," Mars replied. "Our scans indicate that the level of power required to assure the destruction of their fortifications would probably level the capital, as well." She paused. "I would recommend deploying a team to set up a series of containment field assisted explosives around the demonic fortifications."

"I see." Normally, Serenity would not have hesitated to order the bombardment anyway. After all, cities could be rebuilt. Unfortunately, Mars was the centre of the Empire's military might so simply levelling the planet's capital city was out of the question. "Very well, Mars. You have permission to deploy a team to –"

"I will go."

The sheer daring of the words – no one ever interrupted Serenity – had everyone on the command deck looking for the person who'd spoken. It was Saturn.

"I gave my word that I would deal with the demons," Saturn said simply. Her eyes hardened and almost everyone on the command deck flinched away. "Besides, I find myself curious to see how these creatures fare in hand-to-hand combat."

Serenity took a moment to consider her decision. As things stood, she still needed Saturn, so if the other woman wanted to take a little jaunt down to the surface, Serenity would let her. Besides, it was hardly likely that Saturn would get injured. "Very well," Serenity said. "Mars, organise a team." She glanced at Pluto. "I want you heading the team, Mars. Pluto, go with them." The rest of her command went unspoken: watch Saturn.

An hour later, Pluto found herself on the surface of Mars along with Mars and her retinue of elite warriors. As always the green haired senshi found the surface of the planet to be a thing of beauty. There were great dunes of rust coloured sand in all directions, the harsh wind sweeping them into a red-brown sea that seemed to go on forever. Above her, the sky was a vast expanse of black, studded her and there by the twinkling of stars and the closer, brighter lights of the Fleet in orbit around Mars.

"The demonic fortification should be over the next set of dunes," Mars said, her voice raised to carry over the wind. "We should get moving."

The group quickly made their way over the next set of dunes and Pluto frowned as she took in the demonic fortification. It was an abomination, a quagmire of twisted, puce coloured stone and pulsing, unnatural flesh built into one of the rocky ridges overlooking the capital city. A shudder ran through the structure and Pluto's eyes narrowed. Several demons had emerged from the structure. They were tall, ungainly things, perhaps fifteen or so feet in height, with horns and leathery bat-like wings. Their skin was a hideous mix of black and grey and puce and their jagged claws were covered in old gore.

"This will complicate things," Pluto murmured.

Mars nodded. They'd brought high-powered explosives with them and the plan had been to rig them up around the demonic fortifications creating a very powerful, but very localised, blast.

"What now?" Pluto asked.

"We won't be able to sneak past if they stay out there." Mars frowned. Although she had no doubt that she and Pluto could handle the demons currently present, there was no telling how many more might emerge from the fortifications if they were discovered. "We need to move quickly. We'll split the explosives up amongst our group and get a distraction going. While those demons are distracted, the group can get all of the explosives into place at once. That way, it won't matter how many more demons might be inside those fortifications – we can just trigger the explosives and take them all out at once."

Pluto nodded. "That seems like a solid plan." She turned to study the rest of their group. "I'm assuming you and I will be the distractions, Mars."

Mars smiled coldly. "Of course, Pluto. I've been waiting some time to kill these things with my own hands."

"And what of me?" Saturn asked, speaking for the first time.

Mars stared at her for a moment. "You can help make a distraction." Her eyes narrowed. "I imagine you'll get their attention just fine."

Saturn's eyes glittered darkly. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

The group took a few more moments to divvy up the explosives before the Mars and Pluto sprang up from behind the dunes. The demons saw them almost instantly and Pluto shuddered as the creatures took to the air and dove toward her and Mars. Mars growled low in her throat and Pluto felt a wave of heat roll off the other woman before a jet of flame lanced up toward the closest of the demons. The creature barely managed to scream before its entire body dissolved into a cloud of flame, its fellows doing their best to bank away lest they be caught in the blast.

"What are you waiting for, Pluto?" Mars snarled, eyes flashing with bloodlust. "Attack them already."

Pluto nodded and let loose a blast of her own power, the attack catching one demon on the wing and sending it tumbling to the ground before a second blast finished it. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the rest of the group moving into position and she could only hope that the demons would stay focused on her and Mars.

However, it was not to be. One of the demons saw one of Mars' warriors planting some of the explosives and changed direction, dodging a stream of Mars' fire as it closed in on the warrior. And then Saturn was there. Yet, to Pluto's amazement, the other woman wasn't carrying the Silence Glaive, nor was she making any attempt to use her powers to knock the demon out of the air. Instead, as the demon drew closer, Saturn simply stood there, her expression unchanging.

With a howl, the demon struck out, its claws flashing toward Saturn's chest. At the last instant, Saturn moved aside, and as the demon swept past, she reached out and drove one hand up into one of the demon's leathery wings. The demon screeched and smashed into the ground as the blow tore the wing almost in half. Still screeching, it struggled to rise, but Saturn was already there. Calmly, Saturn drove one fist into its chest and despite the distance between them, Pluto actually heard the sickly wet crunch as the demon's chest practically exploded.

"Well," Saturn murmured to the warrior still in the midst of planting his share of the explosives. "Are you going to finish doing that or not?"

The sounds of battle soon drew more demons out of the fortifications and soon Pluto and Mars found themselves being pushed back by sheer numbers. Only Saturn held firm as she, quite literally, tore her way through any of the demons foolish enough to come within reach. There was something truly horrific in how easily the dark haired woman dispatched her enemies, and Pluto almost found herself pitying the demons as Saturn pulverised another one of them with her bare hands.

"Are the explosives in position yet?" Pluto shouted as she ducked the swipe of a claw and fired at the demon closest to her. The demon went down screaming as her power reduced it to little more than dust, its flesh aged countless centuries in the blink of an eye.

Mars shouted into her communicator and then nodded. "Everything is in position now." She waved at the others. "Fall back, I'm setting off the explosives."

The instant the group was out of the blast area, Mars triggered the explosives. A shimmering blue containment field flared to life and the demons clawed wildly at the barrier before the explosives detonated. The dunes around them rippled from the force of the explosion as the containment field struggled to contain the white-hot storm of molten plasma. Pluto watched it all dispassionately as she recalled just how this particular kind of weapon had come about. The containment field was supposed to limit the collateral damage of the explosives, to make them more precise, or at least, that's what the citizenry of the Empire had been told. However, that wasn't why Serenity had ultimately approved them. No, the reason was something far less benevolent. Testing had showed that by containing the explosive force into a smaller area, the containment field effectively amplified the power of the explosives. It was, overall, quite an elegant solution to the problem of having to build bigger and bigger explosives.

With the demonic fortifications little more than a pile of slag, it was a relatively simple affair for the group to pick off the few demons that had managed to escape the blast. Mars took a few minutes to scan the area, just to ensure that everything was dead, before she turned to the others.

"Now that we've dealt with that, we should return to the Fleet."

"One moment," Saturn said and Pluto followed her gaze over to a tall spire of jagged rock that rose in the distance. "What is that?"

"That?" Mars asked. "You mean that rock?" Saturn nodded. "They call it the Sword of Vulcan."

"Why do they call it that?" Saturn asked.

Mars seemed a little unnerved at Saturn's curiosity but replied, "They say that after the God of War created the people of Mars, he cast his sword down onto the surface of the planet so that we would always remember and honour our origins."

"I see." Saturn's gaze remained fixed on the rock spire. "I want to go there."

"Her Majesty expects us back as soon as we've completed our mission," Mars said.

Pluto shot Mars a warning look. "I'm sure Her Majesty will understand if Saturn wishes to visit the Sword of Vulcan." She glanced at Saturn. "I'm sure it won't take long."

Saturn turned and met her gaze. "No, it won't take long."

"I see." Mars nodded slowly. "Very well then, Pluto. I leave this to you. Don't take too long."

Pluto nodded and let her power envelop her and Saturn. A moment later, they were on a ledge halfway up the Sword of Vulcan, looking down at the sea of rust coloured sand.

"Why didn't you use your powers back there?" Pluto asked softly as Saturn knelt down and placed one hand on the cold stone.

Saturn pressed her palm flat against the rock. "Like I said, I wanted to know how the demons would fare in hand-to-hand combat." Her eyes glittered coldly. "I wanted them to know what it was to be afraid."

"I see." Pluto cast her gaze toward the horizon. "Why did you want to come up here?"

Saturn's eyes drifted shut. "When I was younger, I was raised by my master, the one who taught me how to fight."

"Was he a Martian?" Pluto asked quietly.

"No." Saturn stood and stared down at the desert below them. "No, he wasn't. Still, it's strange, but despite all the years I knew him, it was only at the end, when there was so little time left, that I truly understood him, that I truly grasped what made him who he was." She paused and studied her hands, which were covered in gore. "Are you familiar with the Martian practice under which Martians receive their name only after they've made their first kill? Those who fail to earn a name are generally abandoned."

Pluto nodded slowly. "Yes, but that practice was discontinued several hundred years ago after the Outer Insurrection."

"Out Insurrection?" Saturn asked.

"Several hundred years ago," Pluto explained, "A large contingent from the Outer Planets rebelled. Mars was forced to do much of the fighting and in the battles that followed many Martians were killed. The policy that you're talking about was repealed in order to ensure the speedy repopulation of Mars."

Saturn's lips twitched. "How interesting." She lifted her eyes to the sky. "My master's wife was a Martian and her heart was too gentle to let her kill, so she went nameless. She would have died, but on a mission here for the Royal Family of Saturn, my master met her. For whatever reason, he took her in and, somehow, got her back to Saturn. I don't know exactly what happened, but eventually he came to love her. They ended up marrying and when they had their first child, he decided to leave the service of the Royal Family." Saturn's eyes narrowed. "But he knew too much, too much to just be allowed to leave. They tried to dispose of him, but he wasn't an easy man to kill. The same, however, could not be said of his family. They died and he lived and he never forgave them for that." She glanced back at the rock beneath their feet. "This place was where my master met that woman, this was where everything began, at least for him."

Pluto nodded slowly.

"Tell me, Pluto, do you believe that it is the past that defines us, that it is the past that makes us who we are?" Saturn murmured. "Did my master ever have a choice?" And then, barely audible, "Did I?"

For a long moment, Pluto said nothing. Had the question come from anyone else, she'd have dismissed it as mere whimsy, yet there was something in Saturn's voice, a softness, perhaps, that she'd never heard before, along with a strange, almost child-like sense of wondering. She could tell that this question, as strange as it seemed, was somehow very important to Saturn.

"To be honest," Pluto said slowly, "I don't know for sure." She stared straight ahead almost afraid to look at Saturn, yet she couldn't quite stop herself and so she saw that Saturn's eyes were closed and that the other woman was listening carefully. "But I would like to believe that we are more than what the past makes us, that it is not our past that defines us."

"Then what?" Saturn asked. "What is it that makes us who we are?"

Pluto smiled softly, sadly. "The past may be set in stone, Saturn, but that doesn't mean that the future is too. I believe that we can choose to be more than what our pasts would have us be, that as much as our pasts may shape us and mould us, they do not define us." She sighed and then pressed on. "I was trained by a monster, Saturn, by someone who raised me for the specific purpose of taking over the mantle of Pluto." Her smile turned bitter. "It is a difficult thing, Saturn, to do what I have to do, to watch over the Gates endlessly, year after year after year. And yet, when the time came for me to pass on my burden, I found that I could not. I could not – would not – inflict my suffering on anyone else." It was strange, Pluto thought, how easy it was to tell Saturn this. Perhaps it was because Saturn, of all the people she'd met, could understand what a burden power could be, what a terrible thing it could be. "So, no, I don't think that we are our pasts or that past defines us. We can choose, even if sometimes the choice is so hard to make that we can barely bring ourselves to do it." Unbidden a memory flashed through her mind, of another princess of Pluto who'd had the chance she'd never had, the change to grow up without the burden of the Gates on her shoulders.

Saturn shifted, her profile lit in the dim light of the Martian sunset. "Choose? I wonder about that, Pluto. I wonder if there was every any choice for someone like me." Her eyes flashed with ancient anger. "Or perhaps, I'm looking at this the wrong way. Maybe choices have defined me, but I wonder how many of them were mine and how much my choices ever mattered." She turned. "We should go. I don't think I can stay here any longer and I still have business with the demons on the outer planets."

"Wait!" Pluto said. "Your master… do you think the choices he made were the right ones? Do you think the choices you made were the right ones?"

Saturn stopped and for a moment Pluto was afraid that she'd gone too far, but the look on Saturn's face wasn't angry so much as sad. "Were they the right choices?" Saturn murmured before she looked back at Pluto, her eyes as old as forever. "You should know by now, Pluto, that sometimes there are no right choices."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making a dime off this.

So, first of all, my apologies for the delay, which while not particularly long (by my, at times, lackadaisical standards) was still longer than I'd like. I've had things to deal with recently that have taken priority over writing this. However, I must confess that I have had a draft of this chapter sitting on my computer for about a week.

Anyway, this chapter was a little different from the others set in the past, with less emphasis on action and a little more emphasis on dialogue. Hopefully that turned out reasonably well. With regards to the actual content of the chapter (i.e., the subject matter), it's something that I've thought about for a while. Just how much are the senshi similar to their previous selves? Even if they have the same souls, those souls haven't been through the same experiences and that, I think, is bound to lead to some differences. At the same time, however, is there such a thing as destiny, or do we still have the power to choose what sort of person we become? I don't know the answer, and really, I doubt anybody does, but it's something that I think is central to this story and to Sailor Moon (this is definitely something that pops up in the live-action version of Sailor Moon, which is something I liked a lot). But even if there are choices, that doesn't mean that they're easy ones to make, or even that there are any good choices. Sometimes it's just a matter of making the choice that is the least bad – just ask Pluto.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Shinjiro sighed and took a moment to savour the view from the top of the building. Long ago, Earth had been little more than the backwater of the Lunar Empire, a planet of savages living in a state of squalor more amusing than offensive. How quickly things changed. Now, Earth was the only planet in the solar system to harbour life, and the Moon and the rest of the planets were little more than barren lumps of rock spinning through space. It was almost enough to make him laugh.

"It's not like you to brood. Don't tell me you're upset about what happened on the train."

He turned and flashed Sayuri a smile. As usual, the expression only served to aggravate her and he was forced to duck a half-hearted punch that nevertheless packed enough force to pulverise steel. Honestly, she never had been one for doing things halfway.

"So, are you going to tell me what's worrying you, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" Her lips curled. "Or have you started to get attached to this place." She gestured at the city spread out below them. "Don't forget that no matter how much time you've spent here, you're not one of them and you never will be."

He chuckled and sat down on the edge of the building. At night with the city lights all around him and the buildings rising tall and shadowed into the dark it was almost like being home. "What happened on the train was unpleasant for our colleague, but it was also necessary. Unfortunately, something else has come up." He paused. "It seems that I can no longer sense Hotaru Tomoe."

"What?" Sayuri grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him onto his feet. "What do you mean you can't sense her anymore?"

He shrugged her hands off. "Exactly what I said. I can no longer sense her." He smiled at the glare she shot him. "Now, there are three reasons that might explain why I can no longer sense her. One possibility is that she's no longer alive. Now, given who is inside her, I really don't think that's terribly likely." He chuckled. "She and Saturn might not get along, but I have no doubt that Saturn would take over if they were in any real danger – our friend on the train is proof of that. The second possibility is that Saturn has fully awakened and is hiding from us. That's not very likely either. If Saturn were fully awakened we would either be dead or running for our lives. That leaves only one other possibility." He smirked. "And that is that she's no longer on this planet."

Sayuri gave him a sceptical look. "Not on this planet? Right. Then where is she?"

Sometimes, he really wondered just how Sayuri had managed to obtain her position. Their Queen tended to favour cunning and guile, but then again, there were some things that only raw power could accomplish and Sayuri had plenty of that. Of course, her overly straightforward nature was also the reason that he was in charge and not her.

"Think about it," he said. "Hotaru has been losing control as Saturn awakens, and our attacks haven't helped either. If she wants to regain control of herself and learn who we are, the only way she can do that is to delve into her own memories and confront Saturn. There's really nothing else that could work."

"You still haven't told me where they are," she growled. "Stop wasting my time and get to the point."

He shrugged. "The quickest way for Hotaru to regain her memories is to use the Gates of Time, which would also explain why I can no longer sense her."

"The Gates of Time, huh?" Sayuri's eyes narrowed. "That still doesn't explain why you're brooding. The more of her original memories she regains, the more likely Saturn is to fully awaken and that's what we need, or have you forgotten the purpose of our mission?"

"Of course not," he replied. "But you're thinking too simply. Regaining her memories will take a while, even if they use the Gates of Time. And don't forget, Hotaru isn't Saturn. The two of them don't hate the same people. If Hotaru regains Saturn's memories but retains control, then it will be far harder to get her to do what we want. Saturn always was much more... proactive." He frowned faintly. "Still, there are steps we can take. Unlike Saturn, Hotaru still has people that she cares about. If we use them, we might find things even easier than with Saturn."

Sayuri's brows furrowed. "What are you thinking?"

He turned back to look over the city. "It's almost time for the evening peak hour for commuters." A smile crossed his lips. "Gather the others. I want all of you to go make some noise. There are some people that I want to speak to, but first we need to get their attention. It's about time we showed ourselves."

X X X

Haruka glanced at the television but she wasn't really paying much attention to it at all. Normally, an evening of sport would have been just the thing to pull her out of her bad mood. She would have gotten some snacks out and spent the entire evening screaming at the television much to Michiru's horrified consternation, Setsuna's quiet amusement, and Hotaru's obvious delight. Right now though, Michiru was upstairs working on some music in a bid to keep busy and Setsuna and Hotaru… well… they were gone, at least for the time being.

Just thinking of the Setsuna and Hotaru made her want to punch something. Or, she thought with a scowl, she could always just punch Setsuna. The other woman had done her usual thing, hiding things and acting like she had to solve everything herself until things had just gotten completely out of hand. Damn it, why hadn't Setsuna come clean about all of this Saturn related stuff earlier?

Sure, the four of them might not be related by blood, but they were family, right? She laughed softly. Yeah, they were family, all right, the weirdest most dysfunctional family in the world. Even so, watching everything come apart so quickly made her so angry and sad at the same time that she wasn't sure what to do.

She sighed. Really, she was starting to think like Setsuna. She was supposed to be the lively one, not the one who sat around and moped all day. Still, what else could she do? A quick glance at the clock on the wall made her wince. She should probably go upstairs and ask Michiru if she wanted to go out for dinner. Sitting around like this wasn't helping one bit, and she had the feeling that neither of them was in the mood to cook. As she stood up and stretched, the channel she was watching cut away from the race she'd been vaguely paying attention to in favour of some breaking news.

"As you can see from this live footage, the attacks that occurred only moments ago at train stations across the city have caused enormous damage. No group has yet stepped forward to claim responsibility, but…"

Haruka sank back into her chair with wide eyes as the news anchor continued. A montage of images appeared, and she barely heard the words that went with them as bile burned at the back of her throat. She knew the places they were showing, the places that were now little more than smoking, burnt out rubble. Hell, Hotaru caught the train from one of those stations all the time. She swallowed thickly. What the hell was going on? She was so intent on what she was seeing that the sudden angry beeping of her communicator was almost enough to make her jump.

"Are you watching television right now?" Minako asked, her voice shaking as it came over the communicator. "Are you seeing this?"

Haruka nodded dumbly before she realised that Minako couldn't see the gesture. Clearing her throat, she spoke. "I'm watching, all right." She fell silent as another image appeared on the television. It was a shot of one of the alleged perpetrators. He was dressed entirely in dark clothing with a broad cloak of purple so dark that it was almost black draped across his shoulders. Holding the cloak together was a clasp in the shape of a raven, the metal gleaming in the flames that raged throughout the almost obliterated train station.

"Haruka!" Minako shouted over the communicator. "Are you listening? I asked you if you know anything about the people who did this."

Haruka bit her lip so hard it bled. "I think so." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Setsuna told us about them. We don't know exactly who they are, but apparently they're dressed like the Saturnian Royal Guard." Minako gasped, and Haruka pressed on. "Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but one of them attacked Hotaru when she was on the train last night."

"Hotaru was attacked?" Minako asked. "Why didn't you tell us this? Damn it, none of this makes sense." She sighed. "Look, where's Setsuna now? She needs to tell us everything – they're killing people, Haruka, this isn't something we can ignore."

"Setsuna isn't here." Haruka clenched her fists. "And neither is Hotaru. They're at the Gates of Time now trying to help Hotaru regain her memories. They… they won't be able to come back until they're done."

"Damn." There was the sound of flesh hitting wood and if Haruka had to guess, Minako had probably just slammed her hand on her desk. "We can't wait that long, Haruka. I and the others are going to transform and head to the train stations in the west to try and stop the attacks going on there. Can you and Michiru take the train stations in the east?"

Haruka nodded. "We can do that." She stood. "I'm going to get Michiru and head out. Keep in touch."

Haruka took one last look at the television and burned the image of all the carnage into her mind. She'd been in a bad mood for a while now and these people – the same people who'd gone after Hotaru – had finally revealed themselves. It was time for some payback and she'd be sure to give them some for Hotaru as well.

"Michiru!" she shouted as she climbed the stairs. "Come on, we need to transform. There have been attacks throughout the city!"

A few minutes later, the two of them were bounding across the rooftops toward the east side of the city. Along the way Haruka was careful to keep in contact with Minako over her communicator. By the sounds of things, the situation was only getting worse.

"Uranus," Venus said. "Are you two in position yet? We're getting reports of fire spreading from the train stations."

Uranus growled. "Not yet, give us another five minutes, Venus." Up ahead, she could see the glow of fire, the deep orange glare overpowering the usual white glow of streetlights and other signage. Below them, traffic had backed up on the roads as people tried to get as far away from the danger as they could.

"All right, just hurry, okay?" Venus paused. "Mars and I are almost in position. Jupiter and Mercury should be in position in a few minutes as well, and Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are on their way."

Uranus scowled at her communicator. "You guys split up? Are you sure that's wise?" Based on what she'd learned from Hotaru and Setsuna, their enemies were extremely formidable. Sure, Hotaru had beaten the hell out of one of them, but she'd had Saturn's help with that, and even then she hadn't emerged unscathed. "Don't take them lightly, Venus, these guys are dangerous."

"I know that," Venus replied. "But we haven't got a choice. There are too many attacks going on. If we don't split up, there's no way we'll be able to handle all of them." She made a disgusted sound. "I really wish Pluto and Saturn were here, because we could certainly use the extra firepower."

Uranus nodded grimly. They certainly could. "There's no point thinking about that, we'll have to make do with what we've got." At her side, Neptune paused and Uranus looked ahead. The train station was at the end of the next street. "We're in position, Venus. I'll contact you once we've handled things here."

Uranus and Neptune sprinted across the final set of roofs and stopped just shy of the train station. On the street below them, frightened commuters fled toward the line of emergency vehicles that had formed a barricade across the street. There were police, firemen, and ambulance officers, but not one of them had made a move toward the train station. Looking at the roof of the train station, Uranus could see why.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough." The woman standing on the roof of the train station had long, mahogany hair and in the erratic glow of the fire, her blue eyes shone eerily. She wore the distinctive cloak of the Saturnian Royal Guard and draped over one shoulder was a scythe every bit as tall as she was. The scythe gleamed darkly in the firelight, its edge glowing a faint purple. "I was beginning to think that none of you would show."

Uranus narrowed her eyes as Neptune edged away from her. If the woman attacked, it would be better if they split up. At least that way, one of them would be able to get an attack in while the woman was occupied with the other. "Who are you and why are you here?"

The woman grinned. "You know what, I'll just come right out and tell you. After all, he did say it would be okay." She swung the scythe and Uranus' eyes widened at how easily she moved the massive weapon around. "My name is Sayuri and I am a member of the Saturnian Royal Guard. As for why I'm here." She shrugged. "It's actually very simple. I'm going to make you wish you were dead."

Uranus slipped into a fighting stance. "I'd like to see you try."

Sayuri's grin widened. "Very well then. Let's not waste any more time." She took a step forward. "I hope you're ready."

And then she vanished.

Haruka felt the air shift behind her and ducked just in time to see the scythe whip through the air where her head had been. Fast, she thought, really fast. And before she could even think of launching a counterattack, Sayuri lashed out with one foot. The kick caught Uranus in the stomach and hurled her off the roof of the building and into a row of vending machines. Glass went flying and the tortured shriek of mangled plastic and metal filled the air as Uranus smashed through the vending machines and slid along the ground.

"Uranus!" Neptune cried and Uranus looked up to see the aqua haired woman launch herself at Sayuri. The darkly clad woman twisted away from Neptune's blows and the scythe streaked toward Neptune's chest.

"Look out!" Uranus shouted. "Don't get close to her!"

Neptune leapt away just in time and the air around her shimmered as she gathered her power. Droplets of moisture formed in front of her and she thrust both hands forward. "Deep Submerge!"

The trickle of water in front of Neptune became a flood and a torrent of water rocketed from her toward Sayuri. The other woman brought her scythe up to ward off the attack and the tide of water split and smashed into the roof on either side of her. All along the street, the streetlights flickered and then died as the gushing water obliterated the rooftop and then toppled the powerlines in its path.

"Watch out!" Uranus said as Sayuri closed in on Neptune again, the dim purple glow on the edge of her scythe intensifying with each moment.

Neptune's eyes widened and Uranus saw that she'd been taken completely off guard by how little her attack had actually accomplished. Forcing her battered body into a sprint, Uranus jumped and tackled Neptune out of the way as Sayuri brought her scythe around in a broad arc.

A coruscating wave of violet energy rippled from the edge of the scythe and crashed into the building behind them. It cleaved right through it and as the building began to collapse, an eerie silence filled the air, muffling the sound of shattering wood and concrete as Uranus dragged Neptune clear. Sparks flew from some of the downed powerlines and the two of them took to the rooftops again, Sayuri only a few feet behind them.

"Is that all you have?" Sayuri growled. "All my life I've heard legends about how strong the senshi were, of how it was their power and the fear that it inspired that allowed the Empress to rule the solar system." She swung her scythe again and Uranus and Neptune leapt apart, the space between them filled with purple energy. "And now that I finally get to face two of you, I find out that you're nothing more than children playing at fighting." Sayuri tightened her grip on her scythe. "No wonder our Queen thinks so little of this age."

Queen? Uranus sprinted along the rooftops, dodging another blast. Who was this Queen that Sayuri was speaking of? Filing the thought away for another time, she came to a stop on top of a large building and summoned the Space Sword. The weapon appeared just in time for her to block Sayuri's scythe. The sheer force of the blow drove her to her knees and she felt every muscle in her arms strain to hold the larger weapon at bay.

Panting, Uranus twisted her blade free and backed away as Sayuri pressed her attack. The scythe was a blur of motion, attacks coming from seemingly every direction as Sayuri battered Uranus from one side of the roof to the other. Frantically, Uranus looked around for Neptune. The other woman was on one of the buildings nearby looking for an opening to try another attack. Uranus grit her teeth. If Neptune needed an opening, she would get one.

Uranus gathered her strength and parried Sayuri's next attack. As the other woman hastened to bring her scythe back into position, Uranus surged forward, her sword flashing in the dim light as she attacked with all the speed she could muster. But somehow Sayuri held her ground. Rather than try and block every attack, the other woman seemed content to mostly dodge. Clearly, Sayuri understood the implications of using a larger weapon. Much more worrying, however, was how little damage Sayuri's weapon had taken. The Space Sword wasn't as sharp as the Silence Glaive, but it was far, far sharper than any normal sword could ever be. Yet despite the number of time their weapons had met, there wasn't so much as a scratch on Sayuri's scythe. Glancing around, Uranus nodded to herself. She'd managed to drive Sayuri out into the open.

"Deep Submerge!"

Another blast of water streaked toward them and Uranus jumped clear. Rather than the broad river of water that Neptune had used the first time, this blast was much narrowed, perhaps only a few inches wide. Smaller, thinner, and much faster, the beam of water sliced right through the concrete roof and came out through one of the walls of the building. Realising that simply slicing the water probably wouldn't work, Sayuri retreated, hopping onto the next building as Neptune continued to attack.

"Not bad," Sayuri said as a jet of water shot past her and right through a billboard. "But still, not nearly good enough." Another jet of water headed her way and she launched a wave of purple energy at it. The two attacks met and Neptune was forced to dodge as the plume of purple radiance smashed into the roof where she was standing. "I wonder if your friends across the city are doing any better."

X X X

Jupiter cursed as Mercury toppled back, blood spewing from the wound on her chest. The blue haired woman hit the ground with a wet thump and twitched weakly before the man who'd knocked her down casually bent over to pick her up by the throat.

"Shinjiro said that we should make some noise." There was no emotion in his dark eyes. "He also said that it would be acceptable to kill you, although we shouldn't make it a priority." He flicked his wrist and Mercury flew into the wall of a nearby store. She hit it with enough force to crack the bricks and then slid slowly to the ground, leaving a long trail of red in her wake.

Jupiter looked from Mercury to the man in front of her. If Uranus was right then these people might well be members of the Saturnian Royal Guard. She wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but clearly Saturn wasn't the only one from her planet who knew a thing or two about fighting. As soon as she and Mercury had shown up, he'd come after them like some kind of monster. He'd been so fast that she'd barely been able to react in time to avoid being cut in half. As for Mercury, the other woman had been even less fortunate.

"Just hang in there, Mercury," Jupiter said. "Just hang on. I'm going to come and get you, okay?"

The man tilted his head to one side. "You're going to get her?" His voice was calm and he didn't seem the least bit bothered that most of the street around them was either on fire or in pieces. "And how exactly will you manage that?"

She bit her lip. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. He was fast, really, really fast, and he was strong too. He also had a sword, and she knew from the wound in her side that he definitely knew how to use it. But if she didn't get to Mercury soon and get her some help, then the other woman was going to bleed out, even with their senshi powers to help her. As it was, Mercury's eyes were already starting to glaze and she could barely find the strength to sit up.

"Just watch me," Jupiter growled. "I'll show you what a senshi is capable of."

Jupiter took a deep breath. She'd only have one chance at this. Behind the man, an explosion rocked the train station, most likely a gas line or something. At least all of the commuters had managed to get away and police had blocked the ends of the street to prevent anyone else wandering into the battle.

Over the years, she'd gotten careless. She'd gotten so used to fighting youma, to opponents who charged straight at her screaming and trying to claw her throat out. It had been a long, long time since she'd fought someone as well trained as the man in front of her, since she'd fought a soldier.

"Your friend hasn't got much time," he murmured. "You'd best make your move soon."

Reaching deep inside herself for her power, Jupiter extended one arm out to the side. This wasn't something she'd done a lot, and really, with the amount of blood she'd already lost, she wasn't sure that it was a wise idea, but she didn't have much of a choice. Electricity gathered in the palm of her hand, the air around them filling with the scent of ozone, as the current grew and spread along her arm. It didn't matter how strong he was or what powers he had, if she hit him with this much electricity, there was no way that he'd be able to just shrug it off.

For a long moment the two of them simply stared at one another, the crackle of flames and the screech of sirens all around them. And then an explosion rocked the night and Jupiter lunged forward, pouring every bit of speed she had into the strike as she closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye.

Her arm swept toward him and for a moment she thought that she would actually hit him. Yet, just as her blow was about to land, he twisted away, the attack tearing a long gash in his cloak as he let her momentum carry her past him. Her eyes widened. Her back was completely exposed and she saw his blade flash through the air toward her.

Then he slipped.

Stunned, Jupiter stumbled too, and she watched in disbelief as he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. What had just happened? And then she saw Mercury, a wry smile on her lips as her arm dropped to the ground. Somehow, the other woman had found the strength to freeze the ground that the man was standing on. It wasn't much, but at the speed they'd been moving at, the lack of friction had been enough to throw off balance. Seizing her chance, Jupiter hurled the electricity she'd gathered straight at him.

His sword swung up to block the attack, and the lightning exploded. The force of the blast hurled him through the wall of a burnt out store and into the rubble behind it. Not waiting to see if he was dead or alive, Jupiter lifted Mercury into her arms and made for the rooftops.

"Nice work," Jupiter whispered. "Now, just hold on for a second."

In her arms, Mercury nodded weakly and then went limp, utterly exhausted from the battle. Damn it, Jupiter thought. She needed to get Mercury to Moon quickly.

X X X

Mars grimaced as one of the huge rock-like giants that she and Venus were fighting landed a glancing blow on her side. The blow knocked her off her feet and she rolled out of the way as an enormous foot smashed into the pavement. Getting to her feet, she fired a bolt of searing flame into the giant's face and it gave a groan before falling back and breaking apart. Not far from her, Venus used a glowing chain to yank the head off another giant and the two shared an uneasy look.

The reports from the others had begun to come in, and by the sounds of things, they were losing quite badly. Uranus and Neptune were fighting for their lives and according to Jupiter Mercury needed urgent medical attention. Thankfully Moon and Tuxedo Kamen hadn't encountered any of the Saturnian Royal Guard, but they'd had their hands full fighting a small army of youma, just like Mars and Venus.

"There's no end to them," Venus spat as she jumped over one granite fist and smashed her own fist right through the giant's head. "Where are they all coming from? Can you sense anything?"

"Give me a second," Mars said. Even if the giants hadn't managed to hurt them so far, they'd reduced pretty much everything around them to rubble, and if they kept on coming, then eventually they'd wear her and Venus down. With a frown, she stretched her senses out. There had to be someone nearby summoning them, there had to be. An instant later, her eyes widened. There was someone nearby, but for some reason they felt a lot like Saturn.

"There's someone here," Mars said. "We have to find them or –"

A polite cough interrupted her as a fairly non-descript young man dressed in the cloak of the Saturnian Royal Guard appeared. Sighing wearily, he sat down on the edge of one of the nearby rooftops. He gestured vaguely at the dozen or so rock giants circling Mars and Venus.

"They're not really good for much," he murmured, speaking just loud enough to be heard. "Sure, they're big, but they're clumsy and they're not particularly bright." He paused. "Although, you don't have to worry about them plotting against you and they'll do whatever you say, so overall, they do make reasonable lackeys." He gestured again and the youma vanished, sinking into the shadows that covered the street. "Still, for people like yourselves, they won't be enough." He stood and stretched. "I hope you don't mind if I take their place."

Mars tensed. For all of his polite talk, he was powerful. She glanced at Venus, the message in her eyes clear: they needed to take him down no matter what.

"That's quite a look you've got in your eyes, Mars," he said. "It suits you well." He smiled thinly. "I hope you're ready."

"For what?" she glared up at him.

He sighed. "For this."

Out of the corner of her eye, Mars saw something shoot toward her. She jerked back and then rolled, her instincts screaming at her that she needed to keep moving. Behind her, she heard the pavement screech as something tore through it. Several dull thumps followed her, and she lashed out with a wave of fire.

In the light of her attack, she finally saw what had just happened. Somehow, the shadows around her had solidified, turning from vague amorphous patches of darkness into solid, almost metallic strips of blackness.

"You're quick on your feet," the young man said as the shadows stirred again. "I'll admit my power isn't exactly flashy, but it does have it uses."

The shadows surged forward again and Mars ducked, one shadow tearing her uniform at the shoulder as another cut into her thigh. She cried out and stumbled before a beam of white-hot light cleaved through the shadows that would have gutted her. She turned. Venus was standing there, one arm still extended, her eyes moving quickly from shadow to shadow.

"Get up, Mars," Venus whispered. "There's more of them coming."

More of the shadows rushed toward them and Mars found herself back to back with Venus, the two of them firing attack after attack into the mass of inky darkness around them. Abruptly one of the shadows broke away from the rest, wrapping its long length around a car and hurling it at them. They broke apart, the car exploding as it crashed to the ground, and for a split-second the shadows recoiled from the light of the explosion.

"Flame Sniper!" Mars roared, seizing the chance to launch an attack at the young man. The arrow streaked through the air and the young man winced before a slew of shadows peeled off from the building he was sitting on and flung themselves at the arrow. The flaming projectile came apart in a cloud of fire, but when it cleared the young man was still there, albeit with little bits of ash in his hair.

"We need to get rid of the shadows," Venus murmured as she fell into position behind Mars. "Otherwise he can just keep attacking us and defending himself at the same time." She paused. "I've got an idea, but you're going to have to cover me."

Mars nodded grimly. If he could control shadows, they really did need to do something. With all the fires burning everywhere there were literally hundreds of different shadows for him to use. It was like a bad horror move, the kind that Moon hated but couldn't stop herself from watching.

"Just don't take too long, Venus."

Once again, the shadows closed in one them and Mars spun, a tide of flame rippling outward. That took care of the initial attack, but more shadows came, attacking from all sides and from above and below. She fired off bolt after bolt of flame, twisting and turning as she worked frantically to keep up. Behind her, Venus continued to gather her power, the shadows' assault beginning to weaken as the light around the Senshi of Love grew brighter and brighter.

"Mars," Venus growled. "Close your eyes!"

The light around Venus exploded outward and even with her eyes closed, Mars felt her eyes water at the sheer brightness of it. It seemed to go on forever and when it finally stopped and Mars could open her eyes again, she saw the shadows in the area were once again nebulous and fragile. Up on the roof, the young man rubbed his eyes and gave them a thoughtful look.

"Interesting." He gestured and the shadows moved only weakly toward them. "You managed to weaken the shadows. But you do realise, that won't last for long. Do you really think you can kill me before the effect wears off." He glanced past Mars at Venus who was panting heavily. "And do you really think she can do that again?"

Venus glared up at him. "Watch me."

"That's the spirit," he said before a giant explosion lit the night. It was the colour of the sky just after dusk, a deep, vibrant purple. The explosion rose for a few more moments and then billowed outward. The young man grimaced. "Honestly, I told her not to kill them. It will make things difficult if she has." He sighed. "I'm afraid I'll be leaving now. We'll finish this later."

"Wait!" Venus shouted. But he was gone. "Mars contact the others."

Mars nodded. "What do I say?"

"Warn them. Whoever these people are they want us alive, and that means they need us for something." Venus dragged in a deep breath. "Can you reach them?"

Mars turned back to Venus and frowned. "I can't reach Neptune or Uranus."

X X X

Neptune tried to stand only to find that she couldn't move. After a few more attempts, she finally managed to drag herself off the ground only to collapse back onto the pavement as jagged bolts of pain tore up her left side. She glanced down and almost threw up. Just a glance was enough to tell her that her left arm and left leg were broken. Still, given how big the explosion had been, she was lucky to be alive.

Biting her lip to stifle another cry, she looked around for Sayuri. The other woman was a monster. She and Uranus had hit her with everything they had, but she'd just smiled and kept on coming like it was nothing. Most worryingly of all were how similar her powers were to Saturn's. It was like someone had tried to create their own Sailor Saturn.

She coughed and winced at the fresh pain that caused. Where was Uranus? The other woman had been on the other side of Sayuri when she'd used that last attack. After a few frantic moments of looking around, Neptune finally spotted her. Uranus lay on the opposite side of the street, half-imbedded in a wall with the Space Sword still clutched in her hands.

"Good grief, you two are pathetic." Sayuri appeared beside Uranus and Neptune could only cry out in horror as she pulled the other senshi out of the wall and tossed her along the ground. The Space Sword clattered out of Uranus' hands and the blonde groaned as Sayuri lifted her scythe. "Maybe I should just end it now."

The scythe swung – only to stop dead less than an inch from Uranus' throat.

Neptune felt a stab of relief until she realised that it wasn't the other senshi. No, holding the scythe in place were several tendrils of shadow, and beside Sayuri looking distinctly aggravated was a young man dressed like a Saturnian Royal Guard.

"What did you do that for, Shinjiro?" Sayuri growled.

The young man scowled and looked down at Uranus. The blonde tried to reach for the Space Sword but a shadow lanced out, driving right through the flesh of her palm and pinning her hand to the ground. "Have you forgotten my orders? These two are not to be killed." He glanced at Neptune. "Good, at least that one is still fully conscious." He walked over toward Neptune, another shadow pinning Uranus' other hand to the ground as he crossed the gap between them. "Good evening."

"Go to hell!" Neptune spat. She wasn't normally one to swear, but after what he'd just done to Uranus, she wasn't in the mood for being polite.

He sighed theatrically. "Well, I can't say I blame you for being angry, but there is something I want from you."

"I won't do anything for you!" Neptune tried to summon her power but froze as several shadows coiled around her injured arm and leg. They squeezed just hard enough to send her tumbling to the ground in agony. When the pain cleared, the young man gave her a calm look.

"Are you quite finished?" Shinjiro asked. "What I need from you is for you to contact Pluto." He smiled. "Yes, I know that you can contact her, so don't bother denying it." He glanced at Uranus. "You do that for me and Uranus gets to live. You don't and I'll let Sayuri take her apart – slowly." He gave Neptune a wink. "And trust me, you really don't want me to let Sayuri have her way when it comes to torture. She is really messed up."

Neptune grit her teeth and met Uranus' eyes. Even barely conscious, the message in the blonde woman's eyes was clear. Don't do anything for them. "No."

"Okay." Shinjiro looked at Sayuri. "Cut her. Not too deep though, just painful."

Sayuri's scythe swept forward and Uranus' back arched off the ground as the weapon cut a deep gash across her stomach. A strangled cry left her lips before the weapon struck again, this time across one thigh. Blood spurted from the wounds and Uranus sank back onto the ground, biting her lip to try to keep from crying out. However that attempt failed miserably as Sayuri ground the blunt end of her scythe into the wound she'd just opened up on Uranus' stomach.

"See, we can keep this up all night," Shinjiro said. "And if we have to, I can heal her so that we can keep going for even longer." His gaze hardened and his voice lost the almost joking tone it had held up until then. "Now, contact Pluto, or we'll see just how much pain Uranus there can stand."

Neptune felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She couldn't stand by and watch Uranus go through more of this. She couldn't. Silently and glaring viciously at Shinjiro she activated her communicator. "Pluto… it's me."

Pluto's voice came over the communicator clearly. "Neptune… what's wrong?"

"Hello, Pluto," Shinjiro said, taking the communicator from Neptune. "It's nice to finally talk to you."

"Who are you?" Pluto asked. "Where's Neptune?"

"Neptune is currently occupied and so are the others for that matter." He paused. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that Saturn is with you." Silence. "I'll take it from your silence that I'm right. Here's what's going to happen, Pluto. You're going to help Saturn get all her memories back and once you do, you're going to give her a message from me." He gestured and Uranus vanished, swallowed up by a sea of shadows. "Tell her that it's time to finish what she started in Requiem City." He paused. "She'll know what that means. We'll be waiting with Neptune and Uranus." He handed the communicator back to Neptune. "Care to say goodbye?"

"Goodbye?" Neptune murmured. "What did you do to Uranus? What did you do?"

Shinjiro sighed. "I sent her on a little trip, one you'll be joining in a moment." He turned to Sayuri. "Tell the others to withdraw, we've done what we came to do." He looked back at Neptune. "You might want to close your eyes for this, it's a bit of a bumpy ride."

And before Neptune could even think of anything else to say, the shadows surged to life around her and the whole world went dark.

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I neither own Sailor Moon, nor am I making any money off this.

Okay, so I'm not dead and neither is this story. I won't make say anything about the long gap between chapters other than that I was working on my other stories. I do, however, hope to get back to work on this one, because I've had ideas percolating for a while now that I'd like to get down on paper.

So, in this chapter we see a return to the present day timeline (as opposed to Requiem's Timeline or Pluto's earlier timeline). One of the problems with having three separate timelines going on at once, is it's actually been quite a while since we've been in the present. It's also about time that Shinjiro and the others behind the attacks in the present day timeline finally made their move. They're after Saturn for a reason and they've waited long enough.

For those of you wondering why the present day senshi don't stack up to their predecessors in term of combat ability, well, the reason is actually pretty simple. In Requiem's timeline and Pluto's earlier timeline, the senshi are trained from birth as warriors. In comparison, the modern senshi haven't received anywhere near that level of training. Indeed, if it wasn't already obvious, by the time the Lunar Empire fell (when Queen Beryl destroyed the Moon), it was a far less militant place than earlier in its history.

As for why the changes in the Lunar Empire occurred, we're getting to that. As you might have guessed, all three timelines are connected, and now it's just a matter of putting all the pieces together.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


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